French river water too warm to cool nuclear reactors as prices soar

FRENCH nuclear reactors may have their power output cut as hot weather raises the temperature of rivers, EDF has warned.

It leaves Europe facing even higher prices as the energy giant is unable to use the Rhône and Garonne rivers to cool its plants.

The company’s output at the St Alban plant will be reduced from 2.6 gigawatts to 700 megawatts from Saturday, to adhere to environment regulations.

Cutbacks are also expected at the Tricastin plant, where two units will stay at a minimum level of 400 mega- watts.

EDF’S nuclear fleet is already operating below capacity owing to reactor faults, an issue that has pushed up electricity prices and forced France to rely on power imported from Britain.

The latest problems are likely to make the issue worse and will intensify concerns about stretched electricity supplies on the Continent this winter.

Electricity prices have risen as supplies of Russian gas have been eased since the start of the Ukraine war.

The French government is in the process of fully nationalising EDF, at a cost of €10 billion (£8.4 billion), to shore up its energy supplies ahead of this winter.

It comes as water levels on the Rhine in Germany are expected to fall so low it would effectively close.

The river at Kaub, a key waypoint for shipping containers, could drop by 18.5inches by the weekend.