The Beznau nuclear power plant in Switzerland, the world's oldest active nuclear power facility, has been temporarily shut down due to high water temperatures in a river used for cooling, the operator said on Friday.
Water temperatures in the Aare river were measured at 25 degrees Celsius on Thursday and Friday, energy company Axpo said, amid the ongoing heatwave in Western Europe.
Water is extracted from the Aare for cooling of the plant's two reactors, before it is returned to the river, thereby potentially contributing to a rise in temperatures.
The operator said the shutdown is intended to protect the river’s ecosystem and prevent fish deaths, among other things.
Once water temperatures drop again or are forecast to decline sufficiently, plans will be made to restart the two reactors, Axpo said.
The Beznau nuclear plant, located on an island in the Aare river in northern Switzerland less than 10 kilometres from the German border, was commissioned in 1969.
The output of the reactors had already been halved on Tuesday.
