Nuclear reactor heat, which is usually wasted in condensors could be used to heat the shale. Or a dedicated heat exchanger just for shale oil extraction. Of course it would require a nuclear reactor but it would be much "cheaper" in terms of energy to get the oil from the shale.
Definitely some merit in that since nuclear to electic takes 10k BTUs of heat for 1 KWh of electricity (or 2/3 of the energy is wasted). But IIRC, someone said here once that the problem is getting that heat underground or distributing it underground in an area that lacks water.
"Nuclear reactor heat, which is usually wasted in condensors could be used to heat the shale. Or a dedicated heat exchanger just for shale oil extraction. Of course it would require a nuclear reactor but it would be much "cheaper" in terms of energy to get the oil from the shale."
Nuclear energy is a great answer for that problem.
First, nukes generate a lot of heat and electricity, thermal efficiency is about 40% or less.
So piping both the heat and using the electricity could be a very efficient use of the energy from the reactor in the overall process.