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French energy officials have shut down another reactor at the Golfech nuclear power plant as a scorching heatwave continues to grip Europe

A nuclear power plant has been forced to shut down its only operating reactor as a scorching heatwave continues to grip Europe.

Reactor 2 at the Golfech nuclear power plant in south-west France's Tarn-et-Garonne department was taken offline on Thursday, state-owned electricity company EDF said. The temperature of the River Garonne, from which the plant draws water to cool its reactors, was approaching the regulatory limit of 28C.

EDF said the temperature of the Garonne is expected to reach 28C on Friday, when France's national weather service has placed nine departments under the highest-level red heatwave alert.

A 2006 EU directive on freshwater quality stipulates that cooling water discharged from power plants must not cause river temperatures to exceed 28C.

Reactor 2 was the only unit operating at the site as Reactor 1 has been offline for maintenance since May. EDF had already suspended operations at Golfech on June 23 for the same reason before restarting Reactor 2 on July 3, the Express reports.

A spokesperson for the company said: "Weather conditions over the ‌last few days have led to a significant rise in the temperature ⁠of the ⁠Garonne (river), which is expected to reach 28C ⁠this Friday July 10.

“As a precautionary measure, ⁠production unit No. 2 at EDF's Golfech ⁠nuclear power station was shut down on Thursday July ⁠9 at 11:30 a.m."

During the previous heatwave at the end of June, EDF also shut down two other nuclear reactors - at the Bugey nuclear power station on the River Rhône and the Nogent-sur-Seine plant on the River Seine - to comply with environmental limits on river temperatures, Le Parisien reports.

The EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Thursday that western Europe experienced its hottest June on record this year. The average temperature reached 20.74C - more than 3C above the average between 1991 and 2020, the climate monitor said.

"We will see more heatwaves in a warmer world," said Samantha Burgess, strategic climate lead at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), which operates Copernicus.

"They will be more intense and they will last longer, and they will impact more geographical areas."

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