‘This is critical’: Elon Musk urges Europe to increase its use of nuclear power

The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has called for countries to make another big change in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The world’s richest man, SpaceX and Tesla boss Elon Musk, has urged Europe to dramatically increase its use of nuclear power in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The global effort to impose punishing sanctions on Vladimir Putin’s regime has been complicated by European nations’ reliance on Russian gas to fill their energy needs.

The rejection of Russian gas will leave a massive hole – before the invasion, more than a third of the European Union’s fossil fuel consumption was coming from Russian exports.

Even though he runs an electric car company, Mr Musk called for the United States to increase its oil and gas production on Friday. Today he turned his attention to Europe.

“Hopefully, it is now extremely obvious that Europe should restart dormant nuclear power stations and increase the power output of existing ones,” he said.

“This is critical to national and international security. For those who (mistakenly) think this is a radiation risk, pick what you think is the worst location. I will travel there and eat locally grown food on TV.

“I did this in Japan many years ago, shortly after Fukushima. Radiation risk is much, much lower than most people believe.

“Also, nuclear is vastly better for global warming than burning hydrocarbons for energy.”

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Elon Musk. Picture: Jim Watson/AFP

As mentioned, Mr Musk previously urged the US to increase its energy output as well.

“Hate to say it, but we need to increase oil and gas output immediately. Extraordinary times demand extraordinary measures,” he said on Friday.

“Obviously this would negatively affect Tesla, but sustainable energy solutions simply cannot react instantaneously to make up for Russian oil and gas exports.”

The next day, he said increasing oil and gas production “in the short tem” was “critical”. Otherwise people around the world “will be placed under great duress”.

“This is not a question of money. It is a question of having enough energy to power civilisation,” said Mr Musk.

A week ago, the billionaire responded to requests from Ukraine’s government by donating thousands of Starlink satellites to bolster the country’s broadband services.

The satellites communicate with on-ground user terminals and ground stations, enabling them to provide internet access in remote places without the need for traditional cables and wiring.

Mr Musk warned Ukrainians to use Starlink “with caution”, as Russian forces could potentially target the ground stations. Security experts have warned Russia has a history of using satellite communications to track potential targets.

“Important warning: Starlink is the only non-Russian communications system still working in some parts of Ukraine, so the probability of being targeted is high,” Mr Musk said.

“Turn on Starlink only when needed and place the antenna as far away from people as possible. Place light camouflage over the antenna to avoid visual detection.”