The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today called on Russia and Ukraine before the UN Security Council to support five "concrete principles" to ensure the safety of Ukraine's Zaporozhye power plant and avoid a nuclear accident.

- We are lucky that there has not been a nuclear accident yet, said the head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, recalling that the plant occupied by the Russian army has been disconnected from the power grid seven times, so the generators are the "last line of defense against a nuclear accident", because reactor cooling is necessary.

Grossi has been negotiating for months to secure the site in southeastern Ukraine, where the situation is considered highly precarious due to bombings.

He presented his "basic principles necessary to prevent a nuclear accident" in the UN Security Council last night.

- First, there must be no attack of any kind from or against the plant, especially targeting the reactors, spent fuel or other infrastructure or personnel, Grossi said.

The principles also include that the site cannot be used to store heavy weapons or military personnel and that the facility cannot be disconnected from the power grid.

Grossi, who has a team of experts on site in Zaporozhye, visited the site at the end of March and has since warned of a "very real danger of a nuclear accident".