The Natrium advanced nuclear power plant being planned for a retiring coal site in the US will solve problems related to nuclear energy including the key issues of safety and expense, Bill Gates, the founder of the company behind the project has said.

Gates, who founded TerraPower in 2008, also said in his Gates Notes blog that the plan is for every employee at the coal plant, which is scheduled to close in 2025, to get a job in the Natrium facility “if they want one”.

America’s current fleet of nuclear plants has been operating safely for decades and in terms of lives lost, nuclear power is by far the safest way to produce energy. Gates said the new Natrium facility planned for Kemmerer, Wyoming, “will be even better”.

He said nuclear plants are expensive to build, and human error can cause accidents. “Plus, as we move away from fossil fuels, there’s a risk that we’ll leave behind the communities and workers who have been providing reliable energy for decades,” Gates said, adding the Natrium facility is “designed to solve these problems, and more.”