Huge cluster of jellyfish shuts down nuclear reactor in Sweden

Wave of jellyfish shuts down nuclear reactor in SwedenOKG, the operators of the Oskarshamn nuclear plant in southeastern Sweden, one of the world’s largest nuclear reactors, said Tuesday they are ready to restart the plant after a massive school of jellyfish forced them to shut it down on Sunday.

According to The Associated Press, marine biologists say the phenomenon is becoming more common. And, in fact, the Oskarshamn plant faced a similar challenge in 2005 when jellyfish clogged the water intake pipe of reactor one.

“It’s true that there seems to be more and more of these extreme cases of blooming jellyfish,” Lene Moller, a researcher at the Swedish Institute for the Marine Environment told AP.

The Swedish facility has three reactors, with the one affected this time —number three— being the world’s largest boiling water reactor.

Image by Jason Pratt