Key Points

To cool down, nuclear power plants pump water from local rivers or the sea, which they then release back into water bodies at a higher temperature. However, this process can threaten local biodiversity if water is released which is too hot.

To cool down, nuclear power plants pump water from local rivers or the sea, which they then release back into water bodies at a higher temperature.

However, Europe's ongoing heatwave means that the water pumped by nuclear sites is already very hot, impacting the ability of nuclear plants to use it to cool down. On top of this, nuclear sites run the risk of posing a dangerous threat to local biodiversity, by releasing water which is too hot into rivers and seas, as per Euro News.

In light of the heat, Axpo - which operates the Beznau nuclear power plant in Switzerland - said it had shut down one of its reactors on Tuesday, adding that a second reactor was operating at limited capacity.

"Due to the high river water temperatures, Axpo has been increasingly reducing the output of the two reactor units at the Beznau nuclear power plant for days and reduced it to 50 per cent on Sunday," said the operator.

Although Switzerland has decided to phase out nuclear power by 2033, existing plants are able to continue to operate as long as they are safe, Euro News reported.

Although the production of nuclear power has had to be curtailed in light of extreme heat, the impact on France's energy grid remains limited, despite the fact that more electricity is being used to cool buildings and run air conditioning systems, as per Euro News.

However, experts forecast that peaks in energy consumption peaks during heatwaves will only become more frequent, as global temperatures continue to rise.

- ANI