- Elon Musk has called for Europe to restart dormant nuclear power plants to generate more energy.
- Musk said he'd prove it's safe by going to a high-radiation area and eating locally grown food on TV.
- He said he already did so in Japan, shortly after the Fukushima disaster.
In a tweet on Sunday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk called for Europe to generate more nuclear power to offset fears of a gas shortage.
It is "extremely obvious," Musk wrote, that Europe should restart dormant nuclear power plants and boost the output of those that are operational.
The tweet — which has been retweeted more than 31,100 times as of press time — drew its fair share of backlash online.
"Until one is mismanaged again and leaks everywhere. That's the risk of more," responded Jim Osman, founder of the Edge Consulting Group.
Musk, however, claimed the notion of radiation risk is a mistaken one and laid down a challenge to his critics.
"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 tweeted, adding that he did so in the Japanese prefecture of Fukushima months after its 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 in Japan's Asahi Shimbun media outlet. Insider was not independently able to verify whether Musk did or did not eat locally grown food, as he claimed.
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 6, 2022
