Up until quite recently, nuclear has been decently economical as it is - but indeed, a lot of nuclear investments of the previous century were made with obtaining weapon-grade plutonium in mind. It’s one part of why countries went with uranium cycle to begin with.
Modern research into thorium-based reactors that could be cheaper and not produce nuclear weapon material is too little too late. Renewables already took over the game.
Cube6392@beehaw.org 5 days ago
i can speak to this very directly. my uncle thought he was working on making nuclear power more renewable. but what was really happening is that depleted fuel rods are the magic sauce that makes thermonuclear devices (hydrogen bombs) work. even now, i do not truly believe the nuclear powered ai centers are about the progress of man, but rather an excuse to set up extraction economies stripping the earth of her natural resources to then be turned against the working poor who mined the wealth for their overlords in the form of weapons of instantaneous genocide. the only arguments i’m willing to hear in favor of nuclear are to decommission old petrochemical plants, but none of the nuclear plans being presented now have these provisions. the capital hoarders do not propose to sunset any coal, and accuse you of being a pro-petrochemical luddite when you stand in the way of their nuclear proposals.