Elon Musk gives ‘critical warning’ to Europe to ‘restart dormant nuclear power stations’ as panic over Russian gas grows

ELON MUSK warns the EU to start up dormant nuclear power plants as fears over an energy shortage in Europe continue to grow.

The billionaire shared his thoughts about a potentially looming energy crisis in Europe in a tweet on Sunday evening.

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

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

As the war between Ukraine and Russia rages on, concerns are growing about an energy shortage in Europe, which relies heavily on Russian gas imports.

Russia supplies 40 percent of the European Union’s gas – and that number has only grown over the years, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

This week, the EU paid roughly $722 million a day to Russia for gas – a figure that has tripled since the West inundated the nation with sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine.

Much of the EU is in the middle of a transition towards renewable energy, and it is slated to shut down 102 nuclear reactors at the end of this year, according to Business Insider.

Germany, in particular, is heavily reliant on Russia for more than half of its gas as the nation, which made a bid to be “anti-nuclear”, is shutting down the last of its reactors this year, per Bloomberg.

Now experts like Musk are concerned that the EU is doing this at the worst possible time as wholesale prices for gas have increased more than fourfold since early 2020.

This has left many governments with crippling bills, which could only intensify if tensions over Ukraine escalate.

“Hate to say it, but we need to increase oil & gas output immediately. Extraordinary times demand extraordinary measures,” Musk said in a separate tweet on Friday.

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

Musk also added in Sunday’s tweet that “nuclear is vastly better for global warming than burning hydrocarbons for energy” and that the radiation risk “is much, much lower than most people believe.”

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In other news, the creators of a chilling new horror game say that the title is so disturbing they’ve been forced to censor it on PlayStation.

Apple has announced updates to AirTags following claims that the coin-sized tracking devices are being used to stalk people.

And TikTok has announced new rules, banning users who deadname or misgender others.

This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk