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- Elon Musk called on Europe to restart dormant nuclear power plants to generate more energy.
- In response to people expressing concerns about radiation risk, Musk said he would go to an area with high levels of radiation and eat local food on TV.
- He said he had already done it in Japan, shortly after the Fukushima disaster.
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In a tweet on Sunday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk urged Europe to produce more nuclear power to offset concerns about gas shortages.
Musk wrote that it was “extremely clear” that Europe should restart dormant nuclear power plants and increase the capacity of existing ones.
That tweet — which has been retweeted over 31,100 times at the time of publication — has generated its fair share of backlash online.
“Until one is dealt with again and leaks all over the place. This is the risk of more, ”answered Jim Osman founder of Edge Consulting Group.
Musk, however, said the notion of radiation risk was wrong and challenged his followers.
“For those who (wrongly) think this is a radiation risk, choose what you think is the worst place. I will go there and eat local food on TV,” he said. tweeted, adding that he did so in the Japanese prefecture of Fukushima months after the nuclear accident.
Musk visited Fukushima in July 2011, according to a press release from SolarCity, which Tesla acquired in 2016. Musk’s trip was also reported by the Japanese publication Asahi Shimbun. The insider was unable to independently verify whether Musk ate locally produced food, as he claimed.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 6, 2022
There have been two major accidents in history at nuclear power plants: at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the former Soviet Union in 1986 and at Fukushima in 2011. In Chernobyl, children, as well as emergency workers, are at increased risk of health effects caused by radiation. , but “the vast majority of the population should not live in fear of severe health consequences,” according to a 2021 United Nations assessment of the disaster. residents who are directly related to radiation exposure as a result of the accident.
Musk’s call for more nuclear power in Europe comes two days after he pushed for more U.S. oil and gas production to counter any supply cuts from Russia.
Russian oil exports have fallen by a third due to massive Western sanctions against Russia over its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Energy Intelligence reported last Wednesday. While the sanctions do not specifically target Russian oil and gas exports, “buyers generally did not want to risk buying Russian cargo,” a trade publication reported.
These events sent oil prices skyrocketing to multi-year highs and gas station prices skyrocketing.
“I hate to say this, but we need to increase oil and gas production immediately,” Musk said. tweet on Friday. “Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.”