> Nuclear power has been killed off by economic forces
That turns out not to be the case. Everywhere nuclear was killed off it was killed off purely by political forces.
> there’s no turning back
That also turns out not to be the case:
1. Sweden enacted a nuclear phase-out, turned back
2. Japan shut off all its nuclear plants, turned back
3. Belgium enacted a nuclear phase out, turned back
4. Taiwan enacted a nuclear phase out, is turning back
5. Italy enacted a nuclear phase out, is turning back
In fact, the number of countries that have turned back from a nuclear phase-out to re-embracing nuclear power is larger than the number of countries that are sticking to nuclear phase-outs. Never mind the countries that never embraced that particular madness ("World's Dumbest Energy Policy") in the first place or that are just now turning to nuclear power.
Countries representing 70% of the world's GDP have agreed to triple nuclear generating capacity, and that doesn't include India, which has its own plans to triple much sooner.
> [electricity prices in] negative territory
That's not a good thing. It means the electricity is worth less than nothing, essentially garbage, not that it doesn't cost anything to produce. In fact, it costs a lot of money to first produce this useless electricity and then more money to dispose of it. A lose-lose.
One of the reasons Germany, for example, has among the highest electricity prices in the world. And this correlation of high intermittent renewable penetration and high electricity prices holds worldwide.
> The break-even point for France’s EDF for old nuclear power plants that had long since been written off financially was at roughly the same level [€700 in 2020.
Also not true. Even the ARENH price was €40/MWh in 2020. And that still left margin. German plants were delivering electric at around €20-€30 / MWh.
> There were solid economic reasons why EDF was recently nationalized 100%
EDF was not recently nationalized. It was always a state company, with 100% state ownership for most of its existence. For a brief time, around 15% were held by private entities. These were bought out to simplify control for the upcoming nuclear investment program. At the same time, investments in intermittent renewables have been scaled back.