Jellyfish Shut Down One Of The World’s Largest Nuclear Reactors

One of the world’s largest nuclear reactors had to be shut down after a wave of jellyfish was huge enough to clog pipes that bring cool water to the plant’s turbines.

The operators of Oskarshamn nuclear plant in Sweden said they had to scramble reactor three after the animal clog. It was not the first time they had to shut down because of jellyfish. Reactor One was shut down in 2005 because of a jellyfish invasion.

Reactor three is the largest boiling-water reactor in the world. The three reactors at the Oskarshamn site are of the same technology as the Fujushima Daiichi plant that melted down in 2011 after the Japan tsunami.

Scientists say jellyfish causing shutdowns might be happening more often.

“It’s true that there seems to be more and more of these extreme cases of blooming jellyfish,” said Lene Moller, a researcher at the Swedish Institute for the Marine Environment, told the New York Post. “But it’s very difficult to say if there are more jellyfish, because there is no historical data.”

American Nuclear Facilities Vulnerable To Terror Attack

A new report says that American nuclear facilities are vulnerable to a “high-force” terrorist attack and some are still vulnerable to sabotage intended to create a nuclear meltdown.

The Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Project at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas released the report stating they want to shine a light on the security gaps left a decade after 9/11. Continue reading

Explosives Found At Sweden’s Largest Nuclear Plant

Explosives were found in a car parked at the largest nuclear plant in Sweden according to police. The explosives were found during a routine car inspection and resulted in immediate tightening of security at plants around the country.

Vattenfall, the company that runs the Ringhals nuclear power facility, said the explosives were not enough to cause “major” damage. The company further said there was no risk of explosion due to a detonating device not being found with the explosive. The State Forensic Laboratory confirmed the substance was an “explosive paste.” Continue reading