(Reuters) - A safety zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Russian-controlled Ukraine is not possible until the front line is at least 100 km (62 miles) away, the Russian-installed leader of the region said on Wednesday.
"As of today, I think that it is extremely unsafe," Yevgeny Balitsky told state television.
He also warned that it would not be possible to quickly relaunch the plant, amid fears shelling could further compromise its safety.
"It's not a toy, you can't just turn it on and off like a switch. There's runaway processes, there's cooling and so-forth," Balitsky said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has been pushing for a demilitarised security zone around the plant, Europe's largest, which remains close to the frontline between Russian and Ukrainian forces.
Both Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of shelling the plant and the facilities around it, risking a nuclear accident.
The plant was recently forced to use emergency diesel generators after a power line supplying the plant was cut again, U.N. atomic watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday.
(This story has been corrected to change first and second paragraph to clarify front line is not 100km away and third paragraph to say relaunched, not shut down.)
(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
