In this final segment of the Uncommon Knowledge interview, I ask Silicon Valley entrepreneur T. J. Rodgers to evaluate a range of alternative energy sources, including biofuels, wind power, solar power, and nuclear energy. For a man you’d expect to be partial to solar power—after all, his company, SunPower, makes solar cells—T. J. proves remarkably bullish on nuclear.

Nuclear energy is extremely safe in the form we’ve got. By the way, the plants have have already proven safe have mostly World War II technology. Today our technology for control—our electronics, our monitoring capabilities—have gotten a lot better. So while new nuclear plants wouldn’t change their basic design a whole lot, the monitoring and control systems would be infinitely better.