The Shutdown of Nuclear Power Plants Is a Threat to National Security, Says Tesla CEO Elon Musk

Image: AP Photo

Nuclear power plants are a powerful source of energy, which is an alternative to energy sources that pollute the environment. Their relevance has grown even more, against the backdrop of Russia's attack on Ukraine. The shutdown of nuclear power plants is a threat to national security, says Tesla CEO Elon Musk. He calls not only to continue the operation of nuclear power plants, but also to restart those that have already been closed.

In order to continue to work and develop, humanity needs a significant amount of energy. Today, energy generation from coal/peat and natural gas dominates, while energy generation from renewable energy sources continues to gain momentum. However, some countries are already facing problems, as they cannot access the energy sources they used to have, so an urgent solution is needed.

Because of the war that Russia unleashed by invading Ukraine, many countries around the world imposed harsh sanctions on the aggressor. Countries in Europe that have been receiving gas from Russia for years are in a delicate position. Previously, they had driven themselves into dependence on Russia, as they used its energy sources, neglecting the urgency of solving the problem of energy supply to their countries on their own in order to maintain their independence.

Parallel to becoming ever more dependent on Russia, countries have begun phasing out nuclear power and have begun to shut down their nuclear power plants. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly raised the issue of nuclear energy. In early March, he called for increased nuclear power production in Europe amid concerns about gas shortages due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Musk stressed that “this is *critical* to national and international security,” which he was obviously right about.

In a recent interview with German journalist Mathias Döpfner, the head of Tesla again pointed out the importance of this step. Döpfner asked if more nuclear power is the key to freeing the world from dictators and autocrats like Putin? Musk said that for this the world must not only stop shutting down nuclear power plants, but also start restarting those that are already closed.

The bottom line is that nuclear power plants can supply energy again the fastest. Of course, Musk encourages to do this only in places that are not prone to natural disasters. “Closing nuclear power plants now is crazy. Especially in a place where there are no natural disasters,” he said. The head of the company also explained that in places where strong earthquakes or tsunamis occur, this issue will have a different solution. However, as long as there is no great risk of natural disasters, such as in Germany, there is really no danger from nuclear power.

Musk also said that in the long term, solar energy will be the largest source of energy for civilization, and it will have to be stored in batteries. This will be a clear necessity because the sun only shines during the day and sometimes there are very cloudy days. The sun will become “the most important form of energy supply for our civilization in the long term. But until then, we must keep nuclear power. I cannot stress this enough. It's absolute madness to turn them off now. To put it bluntly, this is complete madness,” said Mask. “I would even say that the shutdown is a threat to national security,” he stressed.

© 2022, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

_____________________________

We appreciate your readership! Please share your thoughts in the comment section below. 

Article edited by @SmokeyShorts, you can follow him on Twitter

Follow @EvaFoxU