The ecological mechanisms of Acetes blooms as a threat to the security of cooling systems in coastal nuclear power plants

Abstract

Recently, there have been an increasing number of reports on the shutdown of coastal nuclear power plants because of outbreaks of marine organisms, such as jellyfish and fish. These organisms clog the pipes during an outbreak or when they accumulate near nuclear power plants in coastal regions. The safety of nuclear power plants is threatened by Acetes blooms. Thus, based on the physiology and ecology of Acetes, including the biology, auxology, feeding ecology, population dynamics, environmental suitability and effects of nuclear power plant thermal effluents, three hypotheses were proposed by previous studies to explain the ecological mechanisms of an Acetes bloom: (1) the wintering ground hypothesis, (2) the population dynamics hypothesis and (3) the ecosystem dynamics hypothesis. The main content and prevention measures used in previous studies were introduced and reviewed. Ecological protection combined with relevant environmental protection policies and laws in coastal areas are the long-term goals for the management of Acetes blooms.

The effect of climate change on sources of radionuclides to the marine environment

“…A further likely consequence of CC impacts on normal operations at NPPs, whether coastal or inland, is through biofouling. There have been numerous documented cases of jellyfish blocking cooling water intakes to coastal NPPs (and even to a nuclear-powered vessel) from different regions of the world [16][17][18] . Blooms of jellyfish are predicted to increase due to warmer ocean temperatures and ocean acidification 19 , with a recent study linking such blooms directly to the thermal pollution of returning cooling water from an NPP 20 .…”

Analysis on the dynamic mechanism of Acetes aggregation near a nuclear power cooling water system based on the Lagrangian flow network

“…In recent years, marine biological outbreaks have blocked the cold source seawater intake of nuclear power plants, affecting the safe and stable operation of such power plants from time to time (Azila and Chong, 2010;Barath Kumar et al, 2017). Blockage of the cold source seawater intake of coastal nuclear power plants mainly involves algae, jellyfish, Acetes, seagrass, sand, ice, and crude oil, among others, of which these marine organisms are the main causes, accounting for 84% of the blocking events (An et al, 2021). In China, the nuclear power plants at Hongyanhe, Ningde, Fangchenggang, and Yangjiang have been shut down several times due to the blockage of the cooling water intakes caused by blooms of jellyfish, sea cucumbers, algae, and Acetes, respectively (Zeng et al, 2019;An et al, 2021;Wang et al, 2021).…”

“…Blockage of the cold source seawater intake of coastal nuclear power plants mainly involves algae, jellyfish, Acetes, seagrass, sand, ice, and crude oil, among others, of which these marine organisms are the main causes, accounting for 84% of the blocking events (An et al, 2021). In China, the nuclear power plants at Hongyanhe, Ningde, Fangchenggang, and Yangjiang have been shut down several times due to the blockage of the cooling water intakes caused by blooms of jellyfish, sea cucumbers, algae, and Acetes, respectively (Zeng et al, 2019;An et al, 2021;Wang et al, 2021). Specifically, due to their high biological density, short growth period, fast growth rate, and small size, Acetes are the most challenging disaster-causing organisms that should be controlled.…”