Elon Musk has said that Germany shutting down its nuclear power plants would be “totally insane,” instead saying the country should be building more.
The billionaire’s comments were made in a new interview with German news outlet Welt. Musk responded to Germany planning to shut down its three remaining nuclear power plants by the end of the year.
Germany has been slowly phasing out nuclear power for years since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, causing some Germans to view the energy source as dangerous.
Musk, however, said this plan was “totally insane.”
“I want to be very clear,” said Musk.
“Not only should you not shut down the nuclear power plants that are running, but you should restart the ones that are already shut down. They can supply energy the fastest.”
The entrepreneur added: “Shutting down nuclear power plants now is crazy. Especially where no natural disasters happen.”
The Fukushima disaster was the result of an earthquake and subsequent tsunami hitting the Fukushima Plant, resulting in the worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl incident in 1986.
However, Germany is not prone to such disasters.
“In a place where major earthquakes or tsunamis occur, that’s more of a valid question,” said Musk.
“As long as there is no risk of natural disasters – which is not the case in Germany – there really is no danger from nuclear power.”
Germany has been moving towards renewable power like wind for years now in pursuit of green ideals, shutting down many of their fossil fuel energy sources.
However, this has left them and the continent at large in the lurch amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as Russia is the EU’s single biggest external energy provider.
Even before the Ukraine invasion, Europe’s energy supply was extremely unstable, with the German grid almost collapsing last year due to a particularly cold snap of weather.
As biting cold caused power demand to surge across western Europe this month, the continent’s power grid came close to a massive blackout https://t.co/8kZICKoDTj via @markets
— Alessandro Speciale (@aspeciale) January 27, 2021
Musk – a pioneer in aerospace technology and electric cars – is currently the wealthiest man in the world, with a particular interest in alternative energy solutions.