Ukraine working to restart reactor at occupied nuclear plant- Energoatom chief

A long-awaited UN watchdog visit to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant would be successful if it led to the "demilitarization" of the facility, the head of Ukraine's state nuclear company told Reuters in an interview on Thursday."

Energoatom chief Petro Kotin, speaking at a Ukrainian-controlled checkpoint on the road to the plant, said Ukrainian authorities were making "all efforts" to switch back on the plant's fifth reactor after it shut down due to shelling early on Thursday.

Kotin said the fact that inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency and its director Rafael Grossi had been able to visit the plant after months of negotiations marked progress, but said Russia had tried to propagandize the visit by excluding independent journalists.

Ukraine's top priority was to demilitarize the plant and the surrounding area, which has seen increased shelling in recent weeks, to avoid a nuclear accident, he said.

"If this mission helps to do that, then it will be successful," he said, adding his hope that the IAEA visit would mark a "step forward" toward that goal.

The IAEA chief was due to depart on Thursday, but several other members of the delegation would stay on at the plant through Saturday, Kotin said.

Russia and Ukraine accused each other of trying to sabotage the IAEA mission to the plant in southern central Ukraine, which is controlled by Russian forces but operated by Ukrainian staff.

Conditions at the nuclear plant, Europe's largest, have been unravelling for weeks, with Moscow and Kyiv regularly trading blame for shelling in the vicinity and fuelling fears of a Chornobyl-style radiation disaster.

Shortly after the interview, Energoatom said in a Telegram post that Grossi, who led the body's 14-person delegation to the plant, had left the facility. It said five mission members had remained at the plant, and would likely stay through Saturday.