Nuclear energy technology has changed significantly. Compared to solar it should be a no-brainer. Natural gas and nuclear generate the lion's share of AZ's electricity now. I don't see that changing appreciably in the next 10 years. Right now natural gas generates 7 times the amount of renewables and nuclear 6 times the MWh. Making renewables a quarter of the electricity production in 10 years doesn't work mathematically.
With a net summer capacity of 3,937 megawatts, Arizona's Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station is the largest nuclear power plant, the largest net generator of electricity, and the second-largest power plant by capacity of any kind in the nation.
Natural gas, nuclear power, and coal provided 88% of Arizona's utility-scale electricity net generation in 2020.
France gets 80% of its electricity from nuclear energy. It is safe, reliable, and clean. The environmental Nazis reject nuclear period. It is the true test of whether someone is really interested in the environment or has a political agenda. Look at Merkel. Natural gas (Nordstream 2) and keeping coal are still acceptable. Reality is a bitch.
Merkel rejects bringing forward Germany’s exit from coal
I fully agree nuclear is safe, reliable, and good for the environment. Closing existing plants is one of the dumbest things we could do. The challenge is it’s awfully expensive to build new ones.
For countries without abundant natural gas like, France and China, they can make sense, but the economics do not work in the US today.
That might change in future, but renewables and battery storage continue to get cheaper relative to nuclear.