No matter where you stand on nuclear in general, you have to see the benefit of keeping existing plants operational from both a geopolitical and carbon emission perspective, no? As a mostly pro-nuclear person, I can still empathize with people who believe in a long term phase-out. I am however genuinely baffled that there is a large portion of environmentalists who refuse to even give an inch to the argument that the timing of doing so now is incredibly problematic.
Like do you honestly believe this?
About reliable: in the winter hopefully, but currently Europe is facing a shortage of electric power due to the heat and the drought reducing the availability of nuclear power (never mind the 20 French nuclear power plants down for maintenance)
I encourage you to read this very short link from the US government: https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/5-fast-facts-about-spent-...
You will see that not only all the nuclear waste ever produced would fit in a single football stadium, but on top of that, the "waste" can actually be reused in other nuclear power plants.