Elon Musk dares himself to eat food grown near nuclear reactor site to prove it’s safe

Entrepreneur, space explorer, tunnel digger, and alternative energy advocate Elon Musk isn’t afraid to put his money where his mouth is when it comes to his commitment to nuclear energy. In a recent tweet, the former Tesla CEO promised he’d eat “locally grown food” from wherever his followers consider the “worst location” in terms of radiation risk.

Musk’s irradiated food challenge followed on the heels of another tweet that encouraged Europe to double down on existing nuclear energy options and to restart some plants that have long sat dormant. Musk categorized the reopening of the facilities to be “critical” to international security.

Musk made his statement only days after International Atomic Energy Agency director, Rafael Mariano Grossi warned the agencies Board of Governors that “The military operations at nuclear power facilities of Ukraine have caused unprecedented danger of a nuclear accident, risking the lives of people living in Ukraine and in neighboring countries, including Russia.” as reported by Business Insider.

Grossi made his statement to the board following a Russian missile strike at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant which caused a fire but no apparent release of radiation.

Musk contends that shifting Europe’s energy needs to a footing less reliant on petroleum will be crucial in the coming months. Russia currently supplies one-third of Europe’s petroleum demands. While the continent has been slowly shifting towards renewable energy options, supply has not met demand fast enough to ease reliance on Russian oil. Many counties have been phasing out nuclear plants in the wake of 2011’s Fukushima nuclear disaster, with Germany’s last three reactors scheduled to go offline by the close of this year.

Musk visited Fukushima in 2011 and claims to have eaten food grown locally following the disaster but so far there doesn’t appear to be any confirmation of his assertion.