Near Disaster At French Nuclear Plant: Reactor Cooling Cut Off For 18 Hours After Technician’s Error | World News

New Delhi: It began with a routine inspection. A technician checked the wrong valve. He turned it, closed it and walked away. What followed was 18 hours of silence inside Golfech nuclear power plant in southern France. The cooling system for Reactor 1, which was still running, had been cut off. No alerts. No sirens. The reactor kept working. But the cold water that prevents overheating never came.

The mistake happened on June 15. Reactor 2 was offline for scheduled maintenance. The technician was focused on that. But the cooling valve he shut belonged to the reactor still in operation.

Reactor 1, one of the two cores at the site, depends on that cooling flow to stay stable. Without it, pressure builds, heat climbs and a nuclear plant becomes vulnerable.

The wrong valve stayed closed for 18 hours. That entire time, no one noticed. The cooling system had stopped. The temperature inside the reactor kept rising.

Late that evening, another technician noticed something odd. A pressure reading did not match the expected range. A few minutes later, the closed valve was discovered. The system was restarted. Cooling resumed. The core never reached critical temperatures.

But for 18 hours, it could have.

The Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) confirmed the incident. They categorised it as a “level 1” event on the 7-point International Nuclear Event Scale – the same level as a minor safety breach. No radioactive material was released. No damage occurred. But the risk, ASN said, was real.

Golfech is located near the Garonne River. It draws water from the river to keep its reactors cool. This cooling chain is part of every nuclear plant’s spine. It keeps the fuel from melting. It prevents radiation leaks. It stops disasters before they begin.

Technicians at nuclear plants undergo strict training. Every movement is supposed to be recorded. Every valve labelled. But human error is unpredictable. One misread number and step and a near-disaster unfolds quietly.

Golfech is not Chernobyl. It is not Fukushima as well. But the reminder is sharp. Even stable plants run on the edge of risk. Cooling systems are the last line of defense. They cannot fail. And yet, they sometimes do – not because of machines, but because of men.

France relies heavily on nuclear power. More than 60% of its electricity comes from its 56 nuclear reactors. That makes safety more than a technical issue. It is a national concern.

The June 15 incident is under review. Authorities want answers. How did a critical system go offline for 18 hours unnoticed? What failed — the man, the system or both?

The technician has not been identified. He is under investigation. So is the supervisory chain.

Nuclear energy is precise work. It runs on schedules, checks and rules. But precision breaks when humans forget.

Golfech survived this time. But the warning has been issued. Again.