First U.S. nuclear reactor built from scratch in decades enters commercial operation in Georgia::ATLANTA — A new reactor at a nuclear power plant in Georgia has entered commercial operation, becoming the first new American reactor built from scratch in decades.
Australia’s grid isn’t fully ready for renewables, but accounting for that cost they’re still cheaper than any other energy generation. Also as for your “need a lot of storage” comment, the reason solar + wind with integration costs is still relatively cheap is that you really don’t need much when it’s modelled as a full solution. Quite conveniently, wind produces more power at night and nicely compliments solar.
The footprint of solar also isn’t that big. I did a little maths in some other coment, and to power the US off solar alone (not solar + wind) would take a bit over a third the land used to grow corn for ethanol in the US. That land cost is also included in the cost of generation, so it doesn’t make solar uneconomic.
Yes there are difficulties, but they’re cheaper to solve than it is to make a safe nuclear reactor.