[geewee]

You're not completely off, the IEA recommends still building out nuclear and keeping existing plants alive. [0]

I've seen several analysis' such as [1] that tend point towards renewables being cheaper than nuclear power, even when taking transmission and storage into account. Better transmission cables to require less storage, plus overprovisioning and using the surplus power to create e-fuels and similar is a pretty viable alternative.

So the short answer is - is nuclear necessary? - no. Is building out new nuclear cheaper than building out new renewables + storage? Also probably no - but that might change if small scale modular reactors really take off.

However is keeping nuclear plants around a good idea? Absolutely.

[0] https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/ad5a93ce-3a7f-461d-... [1] https://reneweconomy.com.au/solar-and-wind-keep-getting-chea...

[pyrale]

> even when taking transmission and storage into account.

I would take reports that account for stuff never done before with a pinch of salt.