Backup line disconnected in nuke plant

But facility still getting supply, IAEA says, as Europe frets over grim winter

VIENNA－The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine was disconnected from its backup power line on Monday, the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, said, as European countries step up efforts to get through the energy crisis with a tough winter looming.

The IAEA said in a statement that the backup power line, linking the Zaporizhzhia plant and a nearby thermal power station, was "deliberately disconnected" earlier in the day to "extinguish a fire, but the line itself was not damaged". The plant continues to receive the electricity it needs for safety from its sole operating reactor, said the agency citing Ukrainian information.

The reserve line had been used to deliver electricity from the Zaporizhzhia plant to the grid, as the plant had lost connection to all four main external power lines by Friday.

The IAEA said it was informed by Ukraine that the backup line will be reconnected once the fire has been extinguished. The plant's Ukrainian workers also plan to repair the main external power line that went down on Friday, but the process "would take several days".

IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi led an expert mission to the Zaporizhzhia plant last week. Six of those experts remained at the facility after the mission completed a visit on Thursday.

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog confirmed on Monday that four experts left the Zaporizhzhia plant earlier in the day as planned, and two others are staying to maintain a continuous IAEA presence, "enabling the agency to observe the situation there and provide independent assessments".

Grossi was expected to issue a report later on Tuesday on the situation regarding nuclear safety and security in Ukraine, including the findings from the IAEA mission to the Zaporizhzhia plant. He will also brief the UN Security Council about the mission later that day, said the statement.

The Zaporizhzhia plant, one of Europe's largest nuclear power plants, has been controlled by Russian forces since early March, and its Ukrainian workers continue to operate it.

Half a year into the conflict, European countries are facing an escalating energy crisis. France is among many countries in the region tightening their belts as energy costs soar. Russia's main pipeline carrying natural gas to Germany remains shut down, and the European Commission president says the EU's electricity market "is no longer operating" amid the conflict.

'Last resort'

French President Emmanuel Macron is calling for a sharp 10 percent reduction in the country's energy use in the coming weeks and months to avoid the risk of rationing and cuts this winter.

Macron warned on Monday that forced energy savings might have to be considered in coming months if voluntary efforts aren't sufficient. He said energy rationing plans are being prepared "in case" they're needed, and that "cuts will happen as a last resort".

Germany plans to keep two of its three remaining nuclear power stations on standby, beyond a year-end deadline to ditch the fuel source, to ensure enough electricity supply through the winter during a gas crunch.

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Monday that the move did not mean Berlin was reneging on its long-standing promise to exit nuclear energy by the end of 2022.

On the prospects for a resumption of supplies via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, Vitaly Markelov, the deputy chief executive of Russian energy giant Gazprom, told Reuters on Tuesday that they would not resume until Siemens Energy repairs faulty equipment.

"They have to repair equipment first," he said on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in the Russian Pacific port of Vladivostok, when asked about when the pipeline could start pumping gas again.

On the battlefield, Kyiv on Monday made its boldest claim yet of success in its week-old counteroffensive against Russian forces in the south.

Ukraine's southern command said on Tuesday that bridges over the Dnipro River had been shelled.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the battlefield reports.