UNITED NATIONS, May 31. /TASS/. Over the past 15 months, the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) was cut off from external power sources and had to switch to emergency diesel generators seven times, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi told the UN Security Council on Tuesday.

"There have been seven occasions when the site lost all off-site power and had to rely on emergency diesel generators, the last line of defence against a nuclear accident, to provide essential cooling of the reactor and spent fuel. The last one, the seventh, occurred just one week ago," Grossi said.

The IAEA chief said the world is "fortunate that a nuclear accident has not yet happened," but "if this continues then once day our luck will run out."

A nuclear or radiological accident at the plant could have disastrous consequences for the people of Ukraine, for the people of Russia, as well as for neighboring states and beyond, the nuclear official added.