The primary use of uranium nuclear reactors is to use the vast amounts of power they generate to refine high grade uranium and plutonium into the materials needed to make atomic weapons. They also just so happen to be great a generating a fucking ton of power that can be used for civilian purposes, but don't let any optimistic/utopianist nuke fan fool you, uranium reactors are designed for making nuclear weapons first and foremost.
In an ideal world, thorium reactors and other possible alternatives would be looked into for the purpose of creating smaller and less wasteful atomic reactors that would still generate a useful amount of power. It is true that its hard to match the absolutely insane power generation of a proper uranium reactor, and that with a little more research the issue of the vast amounts of radioactive waste could be mitigated or even solved completely with a process known as Nuclear Fuel Recycling, but the reason the government has never actually bothered looking into these advantageous technologies is because nuke plants were only ever built as a means to an end in the first place. That end being nuclear weapons, and the ability to quickly manufacture massive arsenals of them.
Obviously, since the end of the Cold War, there is significantly less demand for both atomic weapons and for the ability to produce a huge amount of them quickly. Its advantageous for smaller countries like France and Japan to maintain their nuclear reactors because the power generation capabilities of them are so incredible that they can and do power huge portions of their electrical grid with just a few reactors. In the case of France, they even have power left over that they export to their neighbors, particularly the Germans (lol) for a very lucrative sum. Also if either country so desires, creating a nuclear stockpile/expanding their nuclear stockpile in a time of nuclear escalation is pretty much just a phonecall away. Don't let Japan's nuclear disarmament talk fool you, they can arm themselves to the teeth in as little as a couple of months to a few years with hundreds of devices, such is the capability of their reactor network even after Fukushima.
Its not really surprising to see nuclear power being dismantled somewhere like say, Germany, where the country being allowed to have nuclear weapons at all, even those owned and operated by the USA, made a lot of old timers in the Cold War very nervous. But even in the United States, it makes much more economic sense for our short-sighted leaders to avoid nuclear power generation as thorium reactors are just not as profitable as fossil fuel power generation. Even the corrupt companies manufacturing green energy sources are making a fucking killing because green energy is so inefficient and often requires expensive rare earth materials, while planned obsolescence and shoddy workmanship add billions to the bill. Two things you can't really get away with with nuclear power of any kind, at least not to the extent that we see in the green energy field.
Needless to say I'm a huge nuke fan, and am sad to hear of the closure of just about any nuclear power plant. But the frustrating truth is that many of the plants in the United States are completely superfluous and even were so during the height of the Cold War when the production of atomic weapons was at its highest. The USA deliberately overproduced nuclear reactors, and many in hard to reach places, both to endear the public to nuclear energy and to increase the likelihood that a few of them might avoid being hit in a nuclear war. Even just having a single functional full sized uranium nuclear reactor, not the little ones they put in their underground shelters and military bases, would be a fucking massive advantage in a post-nuclear continuity of government situation. Corporations were happy to build these as long as the government was footing the bill.
Now those reactors are getting old and breaking down because states can't afford the parts to repair them, and their maintenance costs are absolutely insane because they're out in the middle of nowhere and it takes your technicians 5-10 hours to drive on dirt roads through sister-fucking hillbilly country to reach them. Their power yields are pointless because, again, they're out in the middle of nowhere and transmitting that kind of power through open terrain with little infrastructure to handle the load would require a tremendous investment. So, left with little incentive to keep them open, these facilities are sadly closed down.
Finally, most countries just cannot afford the insane startup cost of the current nuclear technology. Countries like France pursued nuclear power with ferocious tenacity and hold on to it with an absolute death grip because you know the French are sure as Hell not going to be caught unarmed in a nuke fight. But for less insane or even just less wealthy nations, its just not feasible. Thorium reactors would be cheaper, hypothetically, if we could build them, but nobody wants to put up the funds to do the research. And even still there are those among us nuke fans who say thorium reactors are just a meme that will never go anywhere, like fusion power. Its hard to tell at this point.
