Smart people like Bill Gates are interested in nuclear because of the low footprint associated with the unbelievably high energy density of nuclear fuel. 1.5 soda cans of the stuff fissioned in a conventional reactor releases enough energy to power an average american's entire life (including transportation, heating, and electricity). The waste created is about 2 soda cans of toxic solid stuff that can be easily, safely, and practically stored in deep crystalline bedrock like the Finns are doing. Other energy sources dump their (more dilute) waste into the air causing lung disease (worldwide fossil fuels are estimated to kill 3 million per year this way) and global warming (death toll still unknown). Intermittent renewables are energy harvesters with free fuel but they require vast swaths of land, concrete, steel, fiberglass, storage, transmission, rare-earths, lithium, etc. etc. Nuclear has tiny land, material, waste, carbon, etc. footprints due to its energy density. The risks associated with radiation are just overblown by almost everyone. Nuclear reactors have net saved 1.8 million lives already, and counting [1].
[1] https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es3051197