“We are playing with fire,” the globe’s top atomic watchdog, Rafael Grossi, stressed during his speech this afternoon to the United Nations Security Council on the perils surrounding Europe’s largest civilian nuclear plant, which is caught up in the Ukraine war. 

The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mr. Grossi is far from a flamethrower. His measured assessment of the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear facility was delivered via a video link from Vienna in an even tone, and relied on technical findings from his visit there last week. 

Mr. Grossi warned today that overworked operators at the plant could slip and make a fatal error; that constant shelling in the area could lead to a catastrophe; and that unless backup power and access roads to and from the plant are secured, an accident is bound to happen. 

Mostly, Mr. Grossi proposed establishing what he termed a “nuclear safety and security protection zone” around the site. Here lies the trick. Moscow, which has occupied the Zaporizhzhia plant since March, is using the specter of a major nuclear mishap as yet another leverage tool against Europe, attempting to use the threat of radiation in the continent to force the European powers to bend on the Kremlin’s demand to usurp Ukrainian territory. 

President Zelensky, meanwhile, demands a complete withdrawal of forces from the plant. He has said the Kremlin effectively uses its occupation of the area as a “nuclear weapon” against his country and the rest of Europe. He compared the danger to “six Chernobyls.”

During his Security Council address, Mr. Grossi said “seven pillars” are necessary to ensure the nuclear power plant is secure. While he didn’t mention any of the fighting sides by name, his pillars indicated that continued Russian occupation of the area is mostly what makes the situation so dangerous. 

Mr. Grossi’s pillars include the preservation of the reactors and its radioactive waste storage; assurances that all systems and equipment are functional at all times; that the plant’s staff can work free of harassment; that off-site power supply from the grid for all nuclear sites is available at all times; that supply chains and roads to and from the plant remain open; that on-site and off-site radiation monitoring systems are available, as well as emergency preparedness and response measures ; and that there are assurances that the Kyiv regulator overseeing the facility has direct communication with the plant. 

During his visit last week, Mr. Grossi was flanked by nine top IAEA inspectors. At least two of them remain there, and Mr. Grossi demanded that their safety be assured and that they can continue to monitor the situation. 

In a report issued just after the IAEA team’s visit to the plant, Mr. Grossi warned that employees there are working under enormous pressure and threats. “This is not sustainable and could lead to increased human error with implications for nuclear safety,” the report said. 

“The brave staff are no longer workers but hostages held at gunpoint,” is how the British UN ambassador, Barbara Woodward, put it. 

Ever since Russian forces took over the plant early in the war, troops have been present, and according to the report they roam the area, including inside the buildings. Workers are unable to leave, and civilians residing nearby live in constant fear that any day something awful will happen. 

In a speech to the Security Council, America’s UN representative, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, quoted the “brave” mayor of nearby Nikopol, Audrey Fisak, as saying,  “Our biggest challenge is that we can’t predict what’s going to happen tomorrow — or even if there’s going to be a tomorrow.”   

Warning signs of an impending “accident” are plenty. A few days ago a fire erupted at the plant that resulted in a loss of power and a shutdown of crucial backup systems. Last month a dry spent fuel storage facility was damaged. Russian bombshells land ever nearer to the plant, threatening an event “that may lead to radiological consequences with great safety significance,” according to the IAEA report. 

In a speech today, the Russian UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, accused the IAEA of ignoring the real source of danger, which he claimed was Ukrainian forces. “I would like to ask you to explain,” he said, addressing Mr. Grossi, “what military equipment did you see during your visit to the station?”

As Russia has veto power at the Security Council, today’s meeting is unlikely to avert the dangers of a major nuclear disaster at the heart of Europe. Yet, Mr. Grossi’s decision to maintain IAEA presence at the plant and his constant warnings may at least help in reducing some of the tension at Europe’s most dangerous spot.