I'm disappointed that you dismiss uranium extraction from seawater as absurd without any argument. There's a recently-tested process which uses a treated polyet

I'm disappointed that you dismiss uranium extraction from seawater as absurd without any argument. There's a recently-tested process which uses a treated polyethylene mesh to absorb uranium from seawater at a cost that would be more expensive than current uranium costs, but still well within the reasonable price range, and its energy inputs are small compared to the amount of energy you can get out of uranium, as it is an exceptionally energy-dense material. (By the way, regarding the capital costs of building nuclear plants, it's possible to build current-generation nuclear plants in bulk for capital costs comparable to those of coal plants, and there are designs for fourth-generation plants that would have significantly lower capital costs. The issue here is not insurmountable.)