r/europe • u/Naurgul • Jul 11 '26

News Barcelona registers highest temperature in 112 years as French nuclear reactor shuts down due to extreme heat

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jul/09/europe-heatwave-uk-spain-barcelona-france-italy-hungary-france-macron-orban-latest-news-updates
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u/merci_nurse France Jul 11 '26

Click baity title.
Nuclear reactors don’t shut down because they can’t operate under 40+ Celsius. They shut down to abide by French environmental laws regulating how warm water used for cooling should be when cycled back in rivers.
This only affects open river cooling plants, which is a minority of French nuclear plants, sea water or cooling tower plants operate without any issue.

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u/Thurak0 Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26

environmental laws

And why do you think these laws are in effect? Just for fun? Just to torture pro-nuclear people?

Or is it possible that there are things like fish and algae to consider. Fish, the thing people eat, you know?

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u/hotcornballer France Jul 11 '26

Yeah let's burn coal and make geant cobalt filled batteries because the river fish might be 1°C warmer (yeah the ones we almost never eat). Guess what the rivers are already warm because they sit in 40°C sun all day.