Out of curiosity: Where have EAs argued that “nuclear is overregulated” and, more specifically, where have EAs argued that over-regulation is the only or dominant driver of the cost problem?
It’s probably true that this sometimes happens—especially when EAs outside of climate/energy point to “nuclear is overregulated” as something in line with libertarian / abundance-y priors—but I think those in EA that have done work on nuclear would not subscribe to or spread the view that regulation is the only driver of nuclear problem.
That said, it seems clearly true—and I do think Isabelle agrees with that—that regulatory reform is a necessary component of making nuclear in the West buildable at scale again (alongside many other factors, such as sustained political will, technological progress, re-established supply chains, valuing clean firm power for its attributes, etc).
I agree it’s a bit lossy and sometimes reflexive (this is what I meant with relying on libertarian priors), but I am still confused about your argument.
Because the argument you criticize is an historical one (“nuclear over regulation killed nuclear”) which is different from “now we need many steps and there are different strategies to make nuclear more competitive again”.
I think it is basically correct that over-regulation played a huge part in making nuclear uncompetitive and I don’t think that Isabelle or others knowing the history of nuclear energy would disagree with that, even if it might be a bit overglossed / stylized (obviously, it is not the only thing).