From article:
From California to France to Japan and beyond, nuclear power is all the rage suddenly.
Belgium is one of several European nations looking to extend set-to-expire licenses to keep nuclear plants operational. France, meanwhile, has proposed building up to 14 new nuclear plants in the coming years. Japan, which shuttered its nuclear reactors following the 2011 Fukushima crisis, now wants to restart up to nine reactors. Meanwhile, Morning Brew reports that the UK, Poland, and the Czech Republic are all unfurling plans to build new nuclear reactors.
Nuclear power is suddenly in again, and it’s not hard to see why. Natural gas prices have skyrocketed globally. In the United States, natural gas prices recently hit a 14-year high, but that’s nothing compared to Europe, where they recently hit an all-time high and are the equivalent of $600/barrel oil prices.
This has sent shockwaves throughout Europe, where businesses are reporting five-fold year-over-year price increases.
There is now little debate that Europe is in the middle of a full-blown energy crisis, in no small part because the nations pursued a “green” energy agenda that shifted from domestic production (especially in fossil fuels and nuclear power) and led to a reliance on natural gas imports from Russia, which have been disrupted by the invasion of Ukraine and Russian geopolitics.
https://fee.org/articles/why-nuclear-power-is-quietly-making-a-big-comeback-all-around-the-world/
Russia's impact is merely a severe symptom of individual country not being energy independent. When, in the not too distant past, we didn't use imported oil, our own needs were protected and economical.
Each country should use whatever technology fits their resource availability and need.
Previous generations of nuclear power generation have had their share of risks and obvious problems, but current generation designs, multiple generations in, can't melt down or be forced to melt down. They get more energy out of the fuel before declaring the waste as depleted and no longer usable, leaving less waste behind and at levels which are much lower risk.
And now they can be made to be more localized alleviating the need for additional long-line distribution infrastructure better addressing the need where it exists.