The company EDF, which is building the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in the UK, plans to install an underwater acoustic system costing £700 million to deter fish from the water intake pipes and reduce their mortality during reactor cooling.
This amount is approximately 1.5% of the total construction cost of the entire station, which is estimated at £46 billion.
The system, nicknamed the 'fish disco', involves the installation of more than 300 underwater speakers that emit sound pulses to deter fish, special attachments on the water intake pipes to slow down the water flow, and a fish return system for any fish that do get caught.
Thanks to these expenditures, the nuclear power plant will become the station with the highest level of fish protection in the world.
It is expected that the system will save about 44 tons of fish annually – equivalent to the yearly catch of a small fishing vessel.
In addition to directly protecting nature, this solution will allow the company to avoid the need to create 900 acres of salt marshes as environmental compensation, which was also part of their earlier plans.
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