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Tiny sea creatures plague SK nuclear plant operations (biological oceanography) - C C - Apr 9, 2021

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-07/jellyfish-like-organisms-halt-two-south-korean-nuclear-reactors

INTRO: Sea salps -- gelantinous, marine organisms that look like jellyfish -- may be small, typically measuring less than 10 centimeters tall. But the tiny creatures are turning out to be a major pest to South Korea’s nuclear industry.

The organisms have clogged water systems used to cool Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co.’s Hanul No. 1 and No. 2 reactors, forcing them to shut Tuesday, the second time in less than three weeks the units were taken offline due to sea salps. The reactors, which each have a capacity of 950-megawatts, were offline for about a week in late March.

The shutdowns could get costly the longer they continue. If the amount of lost power from the initial eight-day disruption was offset with generation from liquefied natural gas, it would require a 60,000-ton cargo of the supercooled fuel, costing roughly $21.8 million, according to BloombergNEF analyst Olympe Mattei.

Sea salps can link up into chains several meters in length and have been said to resemble a crystal chandelier drifting through the ocean.. (MORE)