My sense is that nuclear power plants basically can't go forward without lots of government support. No private utility company really wants to shoulder the fin

My sense is that nuclear power plants basically can't go forward without lots of government support. No private utility company really wants to shoulder the financial risk for themselves. Between the stratospheric cost to build one, the ~decade it takes to get one online, and the possibility that cheap renewables push prices way down in the coming years, it's just too risky. That probably has at least something to do with why we aren't seeing much new construction in countries with freer economies. I would guess that another significant factor is, for regions like North America and western Europe that already have a substantial investment in nuclear, it perhaps makes more sense to do what they're already doing: upgrading their existing plants rather than building new ones.