What proponents of the "Well if we just removed all the regulatory requirements we could build loads of nuclear much faster than renewables" argument fail to take into account is that the building of renewables is also massively constrained by regulatory requirements, that if removed would lower the cost and make roll out much more rapid. In the UK the Tories have essentially banned building on shore wind for the past several years, removed subsidies for household solar (and insulation and other energy efficiency measures), and threatened to legislate against solar panels on farmland. Remove these obstacles and you could build out more renewables more easily, in the same way as if you removed regulatory obstacles to new nuclear. We need a mix of solutions that can be rolled out rapidly, and it is probably easier to roll out wind, solar and improve energy efficiency than it is to persuade people to build new nuclear reactors. As it is we seem to be locked into this ridiculous "I demand a perfect, preferably macho big science solution" attitude towards actually doing anything.