A-Infos (en) France, OCL: Climate: the nuclear industry is stunned (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

See online: Climate: the nuclear industry is stunned 
https://www.observatoire-du-nucleaire.org/spip.php?article427 ---- 
Climate: the nuclear industry is stunned ---- While its promoters still 
claim that nuclear power is a reliable way to produce electricity, 
events clearly demonstrate that this is not, or is no longer, the case. 
---- Thus, in this summer of 2026, which is unanimously described as 
scorching but which will soon be considered as in fact very ordinary, 
various nuclearized countries are forced to reduce the power of their 
nuclear reactors or even to shut them down.

It is therefore not at all anecdotal to note that three reactors at the 
Gravelines nuclear power plant (Nord) had to be stopped urgently on 
August 11 due to the suction, in the cooling circuits, of thousands of 
jellyfish.

Indeed, these unfortunate organisms - mercilessly crushed by EDF - 
multiply under the effect of ocean warming: this event, which had 
already occurred in the same place exactly one year earlier, is 
therefore likely to occur more and more often.

Moreover, under the effect of heat, the water of various rivers and 
streams - Danube, Rhône, Meuse, Moselle, Garonne, etc. - is too hot or 
its flow is too low to be able to properly cool the reactors.

Sometimes it is "only" a matter of respecting environmental standards 
because, as few people know, nuclear power plants release massive 
quantities of chemicals and radioactive materials into rivers and 
oceans, all in heated water that threatens wildlife and flora.

All these highly polluting products - while nuclear power is often 
presented as a "clean" energy! - are diluted less the lower the flow rate.

The safety authorities, starting with the very lenient French ASNR, 
grant operators all the exemptions they demand, but when water is or 
will be lacking, even the most accommodating decrees will be ineffective.

We also advise people to closely monitor the Loire River's flow, which 
in some places has been reduced to a trickle. Four power 
plants-Belleville, Dampierre, Saint-Laurent, and Chinon-are at risk of 
closure. EDF executives are praying for miraculous rainfall, but even if 
it happens this year, such a miracle won't be repeated every year.

The truth is that climate change is irrevocably condemning the operation 
of the 38 French reactors located on riverbanks. As for the other 19, 
situated on the coast or in estuaries, they are increasingly threatened 
by the risk of submersion as sea levels rise due to global warming.

We already had a small glimpse of it on the night of December 27-28, 
1999 when the Blayais nuclear power plant in Gironde was severely 
flooded and narrowly avoided, twelve years in advance, the dramatic 
scenario that occurred in 2011 in Fukushima (Japan).

Yet, although totally discredited and on its last legs, the Macron 
government is attempting, with the complicity of EDF's management, to 
make the launch of a new reactor program irreversible: the famous EPR2s, 
almost identical to the EPR that EDF still cannot get working at 
Flamanville... even though this was theoretically supposed to be the 
case from 2012!

The problem is not only EDF's inability - demonstrated on several 
construction sites in France and England - to build its own reactors, 
and the unjustifiable financing of these projects by the deliberate 
"theft" of money from the Livret A savings account, which was intended 
for social housing.

The problem is that, if by some extraordinary chance EDF finds the 
instructions and manages to build the reactors correctly, they will not 
start operating until the 2040s and 2050s.

Will Messrs. Macron, Lecornu and Fontana (the CEO of EDF) explain to the 
people who are now dying of heat every summer that the situation could 
improve in 25 or 30 years?

Everyone knows that action must be taken immediately, since it has not 
been done for many years despite the numerous warnings issued by 
anti-nuclear activists and other environmentalists who are now accused 
of all evils... for the simple reason that they announced and denounced 
them first!

Instead of once again capturing tens or even hundreds of billions to 
offer to the nuclear industry, political leaders must immediately launch 
plans for the development of renewable energies (without deforesting to 
install solar parks!), adaptation to climate change and above all, a 
major omission in the speeches and actions of most politicians, sobriety.

We do not have the space here - another forum will be needed - to 
explain why Macron's headlong rush towards "all electric" is a heresy 
that can only lead to a new dead end, especially when it comes to 
bringing in data centers that will need to be massively and continuously 
powered... instead of meeting the vital needs of the population.

In recent years, we have observed announcements of nuclear reactor 
construction in various countries around the world. It seems that, for 
most presidents, kings, leaders, and especially dictators, talking about 
nuclear power still confers a certain prestige.

But fortunately, the reality is quite different: almost all of these 
announcements have no effect, and, as publicly available data recognized 
by international agencies shows, the share of nuclear power in global 
electricity production has fallen from 17.1% in 2001 to 8.85% in 2025: 
this is not a decrease but a veritable collapse, which continues 
inexorably year after year. Meanwhile, the share of renewable energies 
is approaching 40% and is increasing exponentially.

It is therefore high time to cancel all nuclear projects, starting with 
the French EPR2 program, and instead of remaining stunned, to focus on 
adapting to the scorching climate that is already affecting us and 
awaits our descendants...


It is climate change that is undermining nuclear power, not the other 
way around.
Press release from the "Stop Nuclear Power  " Collective, August 11, 2026

-The successive heat waves show that nuclear power plants have no future 
in a world that is constantly warming

The lenient exemptions granted to EDF by the Safety Authority are 
ineffective when there is no longer enough water in the rivers.
The project to build new reactors (the EPR2s) must be abandoned and the 
money redirected towards alternatives
Water shortages: nuclear power plants are being overwhelmed by global 
warming
After Western Europe (particularly France, Belgium, and Switzerland), 
which was affected as early as the end of July, it is now Central 
Europe's turn-Hungary, Romania, etc.-to have to shut down nuclear power 
plants due to the heatwave. In fact, all the world's nuclear power 
plants are now, or will soon be, rendered unusable by climate change.

In France, since the heatwave of summer 2003, the so-called 
"Authorities" of so-called nuclear "safety" have surrendered and granted 
all the exemptions demanded by EDF to operate the power plants while 
flouting the rules for the protection of fauna and flora.

But no exemption or decree can prevent the shutdown of power plants when 
water runs low in the rivers, as is now the case. The usual accusations 
against "anti-nuclear activists" or "environmentalists," who supposedly 
sabotage the nuclear industry with environmental regulations, fall apart 
on their own.

The truth is that it is climate change that is attacking nuclear power 
and not the other way around, contrary to what the main industrial, 
political and media leaders have been claiming for years.

Furthermore, the Stop Nuclear Power Collective points out that nuclear 
power plants continuously release immense quantities of chemical and 
radioactive materials into rivers and oceans, contradicting the 
propaganda claiming that nuclear power is a "clean" energy source. The 
fact is that, during periods of heatwaves and very low water flow, all 
these substances are even less diluted than usual and cause even greater 
harm to wildlife and vegetation.

It is indeed senseless to want to launch the construction of new nuclear 
reactors, as the crumbling Macron regime intends to do just before its 
demise. Certainly, it is always possible to locate these construction 
sites by the sea to ensure a water supply... but it is then the 
phenomenon of flooding that dooms nuclear power: if these plants are 
unfortunately built, they will begin operating at the earliest in the 
2040s, or even 2050s: by then, sea levels will have risen significantly.

The Stop Nuclear Collective calls on all citizens to preserve the future 
of current and future generations: the billions planned once again for 
nuclear power must be cancelled and immediately redirected towards 
renewable energies and, above all, towards plans for energy sobriety and 
adaptation to climate change.

http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4760
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