Yet, France consistently produces half of Germany's CO2 per capita: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.CO2E.PC?location...
I would consider that a giant success of nuclear energy.
> A comparable number to Denmark that has almost no hydro power.
Denmark is not relevant - they import giant majority of their energy. Right now they barely produce at all: https://i.imgur.com/69SI5J9.png
> Costs aren't the only problem, new nuclear reactors simply cannot be build fast enough to counteract the climate crisis.
They could be build fast enough if we did it _seriously_, and not as vanity projects.
https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/2027347/south-korea-s... Is the suggestion to just import the energy?
In term of production a country can easily go above 100% renewable by selling a lot of it during periods of optimal conditions. Naturally, a country can not above 100% in terms of consumption. Denmark for example is a massive exporter in terms of production, but also a massive importer in terms of consumption and has a very large dependency on imports. They are not self sufficient despite producing more energy that they themselves consume.
You have the issue you talk about with all generation that isn’t load-following, including nuclear. France solves this by exporting subsidized electricity in time of low demand while importing in time of high demand, which is winter. In the surrounding countries like Italy and Germany you have gas-plants that jump in when needed.
Costs aren't the only problem, new nuclear reactors simply cannot be build fast enough to counteract the climate crisis.