It took an earthquake of magnitude 9 on Richter scale and a tsunami to force the shutdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex in Japan due to fears of a possible meltdown.

However, a recent report from Israel suggests that jellyfish can cause a nuclear power plant shutdown as well. Recently, the Orot Rabin nuclear power plant in Hadera, Israel, faced a similar threat when a swarm of jellyfish blocked the plant's water supply which is used as a coolant.

In Scotland, reactors at Torness power station, operated by EDF, had to be shutdown as the seawater used as coolant was inundated with jellyfish. The reactors were closed as precautionary measure due to high volumes of the high volumes of jelly fish fouling the cooling water screens, an EDF spokesman said.

Scientists have ascribed the sudden rise in jellyfish population to an increase in acidity in oceans.

Here are pictures of jellyfish jamming the water supply of the coal-powered Orot Rabin power station in Hadera, Israel:

Jellyfish blocking water supply at Orot Rabin nuclear power plant in Israel
Jellyfish fall from a filter into a container at Orot Rabin coal-fired power station on the Mediterranean coast near the central town of Hadera July 5, 2011. Reuters
Jellyfish blocking water supply at Orot Rabin nuclear power plant in Israel
A worker from the Israel Electric Corp. puts on gloves as he walks in a lot covered with jellyfish at Orot Rabin coal-fired power station on the Mediterranean coast near the central town of Hadera July 5, 2011. Reuters
Jellyfish blocking water supply at Orot Rabin nuclear power plant in Israel
A worker from the Israel Electric Corp. stands next to a container filled with jellyfish at Orot Rabin coal-fired power station on the Mediterranean coast near the central town of Hadera July 5, 2011. Reuters
Jellyfish blocking water supply at Orot Rabin nuclear power plant in Israel
Jellyfish cover the floor in a lot at Israel Electric Corp.'s Orot Rabin coal-fired power station on the Mediterranean coast near the central town of Hadera July 5, 2011. Reuters
Jellyfish blocking water supply at Orot Rabin nuclear power plant in Israel
Workers from the Israel Electric Corp. stand next to containers filled with jellyfish at Orot Rabin coal-fired power station on the Mediterranean coast near the central town of Hadera July 5, 2011. The power station uses seawater for cooling off purposes and has to filter out and dispose of tonnes of jellyfish that are sucked into its system daily. Reuters
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