There are over 200 species of jellyfish living in our Earths’ oceans. With little control of their body movements, jellyfish rely heavily on the oceans currents to travel however they do have some control by utilizing their hydrostatic skeleton. Often during seasons when ocean temperatures are warmed by summer sun these ocean creatures form ocean blooms or large swarms consisting of thousands of jellyfish. In a recent freak happenstance, several of these blooms almost caused nuclear meltdowns at three different power plants across the globe.

Simultaneously in late June 2011 swarms of millions of jellyfish clogged the cool water intake valves at nuclear power plants in the UK, Israel, and Japan. These intake valves are vital to keeping the plant operating safely. Cool water is drawn in from the ocean, runs through pipes and into the reactor area to help maintain a safe core temperature and avoid a nuclear melt down. In the final days of June 2011 the cool ocean waters stopped flowing into the plants and caused plant operators to have to shut down the reactors in order to avoid disaster. While jellyfish have caused problems at reactors in Japan before swarms of this size are rare in the UK. These ocean pests caused the reactors in the UK to close down for a week.

Nuclear melt downs are very serious so all of the plants involved are taking steps to help prevent future problems. Well maintained warning systems that alerted workers of the blockage are responsible for preventing catastrophe. If the ocean water used to cool the reactor fails to make it to the containment area the core begins to heat up. Once the fuel rods reach dangerous levels the core melts down and nuclear material leaks out of the inner containment. If the containment vessel is breached nuclear gases and nuclear waste can then make its way into the air, oceans, and soil causing major contamination.

There is much speculation as to the cause of this freak occurrence. Some scientists believe that a combination of rising temperatures and over fishing have lead to a massive increase in the jellyfish population. At the time of the incident the water temperatures of the coast of Scotland were 1 degree above average and this slight change in temperature is thought to have brought the jellyfish into waters they otherwise would have avoided. Scientists have been monitoring the ocean’s jellyfish population and have noticed a steady increase that corresponds directly with the decline of the jellyfish’s natural predators due to commercial fishing. Another theory among some researchers suggests that perhaps the jellyfish were drawn to the plant by electric impulse. Jellyfish contain a protein that is currently being used in studies to develop solar technologies. The fluorescent protein produces electricity when exposed to ultra-violet light. This is just a theory however because there is very little information about these sea creatures due to a lack of research. There is no way to prove whether or not these events were coincidental or if some other factor drew the jellyfish to the nuclear power plants.

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Category: Business
Keywords: Environment, Business, Industry, Insurance, Energy