France shuts down two nuclear reactors amid record heatwave

France's largest energy company, Électricité de France (EDF), has temporarily shut down two nuclear reactors as a precautionary measure amid record-breaking temperatures, Report informs via Channel News Asia.

The reactors affected are located at the Nogent-sur-Seine Nuclear Power Plant on the Seine River in northern France and the Bugey Nuclear Power Plant on the Rhône River near Lyon in southeastern France.

The decision was taken to protect the environment and prevent the discharge of excessively heated water into rivers whose temperatures have already risen due to the ongoing heatwave.

"Nuclear power plants, which play a vital role in the country's electricity supply, use river water to cool their reactors before returning it to the river at a higher temperature," EDF said.

Several days earlier, the Nogent-sur-Seine plant had already reduced electricity generation at one of its reactors in an effort to limit the temperature of water discharged back into the Seine and minimize its impact on the river's ecosystem.

The move highlights the growing challenges that extreme weather conditions pose to Europe's energy infrastructure, as rising temperatures increasingly affect the operation of power generation facilities.