A swarm of jellyfish has caused major disruption at one of France's largest nuclear power plants, for the second time in a month.
The jellyfish entered the filters of the pumping station at the Paluel nuclear plant, according to France's national energy firm, EDF.
This incident reduced the output at the plant in Normandy by 2.4 gigawatts and crews are currently working to restore it to full operation.
In August, generation at another major nuclear site in France was also disrupted by jellyfish, after a massive and unpredictable swarm forced the Gravelines plant to temporarily cease operations.
The disruption at Paluel represents a near halving of its 5.2 gigawatt output, as one reactor had to be shut down and a second reduced as a precautionary measure.
Nuclear power accounts for around 70% of France's energy consumption, as noted by the World Nuclear Association (WNA).
Paluel is one of France's largest nuclear plants, with each of its four units generating over 1,300 megawatts of power.
EDF stated that the measures were taken at 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT) after the arrival of jellyfish in the filters of the non-nuclear part of the plant.
The company added that its teams were carrying out the necessary diagnostics and interventions to get both reactors fully back online.
