The energy problem we have isn't beyond my lifetime, it's now. There is a finite amount of investment available for new energy projects, and if we pour it into nuclear that means 10+ years of continuing with present usage of fossil fuels. Obviously I know noone is suggesting we do only nuclear, but the point remains that renewables projects can be completed sooner and cheaper. Even if we continue to use nuclear to support the base load and decide to develop some level of capability beyond what exists today, the majority of investment should go to renewables.

Thing is this has been said for longer than I’ve been alive, and will probably still be said after I’m dead

I'm not making this argument in the past, I'm making it now.

in the intervening 70-80 years we could have and could be actually building the damn things

Well, they are being built? It's not like the world has abandoned nuclear power. We need the base load, there's certainly an argument to use some nuclear, but the safety and waste issues mean it shouldn't really ever be our only way to generate power, at least until some of those problems are solved. Modern reactors are much safer than they once were, but as I said before - the fossil fuel situation is immediate and pressing. I'm not sure I disagree with anyone who made this argument in the past - renewables are a faster way to convert away from fossil fuels. It's more pressing now than ever, but it isn't a new problem and it's been urgent for a long time. Just because we failed to solve it before doesn't mean we should throw the baby out with the bathwater. What's your reasoning to focus on nuclear rather than renewables today?