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Elon Musk says that nuclear energy is the key to breaking Europe’s dependence on Russian oil as crude prices continued to surge to near-record levels amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Musk is so certain that there is little risk from relying on nuclear power that he is willing to go to a “high-radiation” area and “eat locally grown food on TV.”
“Hopefully, it is now extremely obvious that Europe should restart dormant nuclear power stations and increase power output of existing ones,” the Tesla CEO tweeted on Sunday night.
“This is *critical* to national and international security.”
When several of his Twitter followers pushed back on Musk’s suggestion by noting the danger of radioactive leaks, Musk replied: “For those who (mistakenly) think this is a radiation risk, pick what you think is the worst location. I will travel there & eat locally grown food on TV.”
He then added: “I did this in Japan many years ago, shortly after Fukushima. Radiation risk is much, much lower than most people believe.”
Musk added another tweet to the thread, writing: “Also nuclear is vastly better for global warming than burning hydrocarbons for energy.”
Ukrainian officials accused Russia of “nuclear terror” after Russian forces shelled the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant last week.
After fierce battles around the power plant, Russian forces seized control of Zaporizhzhia on Friday, and the workers there were desperately trying to ensure the plant was safe.
The nuclear facility is the largest of its kind in Europe and a possible explosion could cause a disaster “10 times larger than Chernobyl,” one Ukrainian official warned.
Zaporizhzhia generates a quarter of the nation’s electricity. One of its six reactors had been on fire after the shelling, a plant spokesman said, adding that it was not operating but contained nuclear fuel.
The blaze was eventually contained and the plant was secured, officials said.
The surging price of crude oil, which has been exacerbated by President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, has reignited debate about Western dependence on Russian energy exports.
Oil prices surged to their highest level in more than a decade on Monday as the Biden administration mulls a potential ban on Russian imports.
Brent crude oil touched nearly $140 per barrel overnight as the market reacted to the possibility of a ban. The global price benchmark was trading at roughly $125 as of Monday afternoon.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the US benchmark, was trading at $121 after briefly topping $130 on Sunday night. Prices reached their highest level since 2008.
The skyrocketing energy prices have spooked investors on Wall Street as the Dow Jones fell by nearly 1.5% at around noon Eastern time on Monday. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 also shed around 1.5%.
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