Of course they can, but they don't. It's extremely expensive and the vast majority of countries can't afford the massive upfront cost without nasty consequences

Of course they can, but they don't. It's extremely expensive and the vast majority of countries can't afford the massive upfront cost without nasty consequences. Most of the 32 countries with nuclear reactors built them using technology from Russia, France, the US, UK, or China. China still builds nuclear reactors using imported Russian technology because its own industry can't keep up with the demand - the demand for exporting Chinese nuclear reactors to countries that US/EU won't sell nuclear technology to. The article we're commenting on is part of the EU and US response - they want to sell their reactor technology to a bunch of countries to prevent China from getting that business and gaining influence, but they want to do it in a way that reduces proliferation because the constituents that vote for them care about nuclear proliferation. It's entry level geopolitics.