The Chernobyl nuclear power station in Ukraine has been re-connected to the national electricity grid and is no longer relying on emergency diesel generators for power, The International Atomic Energy Agency said.

The site of the 1986 accident lost all offsite power on 9 March and was forced to resort to diesel fuel for backup electricity. Ukrainian specialist teams succeeded at the weekend to repair one of two damaged lines linking the plant to the power network.

From 16:45 local time on 14 March, this line has been providing all the required power to the station and the diesel generators have been switched off, Ukraine’s regulatory authority SNRIU said on Tuesday. It is also supplying electricity to the nearby city of Slavutich. It remains unclear whether it will be possible to repair the second high-voltage power line, SNRIU added.