Ukraine has restarted the unit at a nuclear power plant which was switched off over the weekend after what could have been an electrical fault.

A statement on the Zaporizhzhya power plant’s website on early Sunday morning said unit 6 was disconnected to protect “against internal damage to the generator”.

It was reconnected to the network according to a second statement later that night.

It is the second time the plant has shut down a reactor in less than a month. A short circuit closed one unit at the start of December according to Reuters which reported comments from Ukraine’s energy minister there was “no threat” to public safety.

The power plant’s first unit was built in December 1984, with four more added. Building a sixth was initially held up after a public backlash against nuclear power. Blackouts changed public opinion and in 1993 building on the sixth unit began, according to the power plant’s website.

The nation was struck by a disastrous nuclear accident at Chernobyl in 1986.