Elon Musk calls for nuclear power instead of Russian oil – and promises to eat food grown near reactors

Elon Musk says nuclear power is 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 confident that using nuclear power poses few risks that he is willing to go to a “high radiation” area and “eat locally grown food on TV.”

“Hopefully it is now very evident that Europe should restart dormant nuclear power plants and increase the output of existing plants,” the Tesla CEO tweeted Sunday night.

“This is *critical* to national and international security.”

When several of his Twitter followers pushed back on Musk’s proposal by pointing out the danger of radioactive leaks, Musk replied: “For those who think (wrongly) that this is a radiation risk, choose what you think is the worst place.” I will travel there and eat locally grown food on TV.”

Then he added: “I did this in Japan many years ago, just after Fukushima. The risk of radiation is much, much less than most people realize.”

Musk added another tweet to the thread, in which he wrote, “Also, nuclear power is far better for global warming than burning hydrocarbons for energy.”

Ukrainian officials accused Russia of “nuclear terror” after Russian forces shelled the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant last week.

After fierce fighting around the power plant, Russian forces took control of Zaporizhia on Friday, and workers there were desperate to keep the power plant safe.

The nuclear facility is the largest of its kind in Europe and a potential explosion could cause a disaster “ten times bigger than Chernobyl,” a Ukrainian official has warned.

Zaporizhzhia generates a quarter of the country’s electricity. One of its six reactors burned after the shelling, a plant spokesman said, adding that it was not operational but contained nuclear fuel.

The fire was eventually contained and the facility secured, officials said.

Soaring crude oil prices, exacerbated by President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, have reignited debate over the West’s dependence on Russian energy exports.

Oil prices rose to their highest level in more than a decade on Monday as the Biden administration mulls over a possible ban on Russian imports.

Brent crude hit nearly $140 a barrel overnight as the market reacted to the possibility of a ban. The global price benchmark traded at around $125 on Monday afternoon.

West Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark, traded at $121 after briefly topping $130 on Sunday night. Prices reached their highest level since 2008.

Soaring energy prices spooked investors on Wall Street as the Dow Jones fell nearly 1.5% around midday Eastern time on Monday. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 also lost around 1.5%.