Yea, and it is super cool to think that, but either 1. the kinetic barrier is impossibly large that even novas cant cross it, or 2. the "stable" elements are

Yea, and it is super cool to think that, but either 1. the kinetic barrier is impossibly large that even novas cant cross it, or 2. the "stable" elements are not very long lived in astronomical time scales. Probably both are true, either way, it's a wash - no super heavy elements for alien races to play with.