I don't think nuclear should be overprovisioned, but it illustrates that nuclear also needs a plan B just like wind and solar does. IMO Plan B should be synthesized gas that has been generated when electricity was cheap due to overproduction or directly from cheap sources such as Solar.
Why Finland built a single huge reactor, so single point of failure, is a bit puzzling.
France has not invested in its nuclear fleet in ages, and deferred maintenance during COVID, so a lot more plants were in maintenance than usual. Fortunately they planned this for the summer, when energy consumption is low and renewable output high. Unfortunately the inspections found more than they were expecting, as inspections are wont to do at times. Otherwise you wouldn't need them.
Fortunately, there's a European electricity grid, and so for one year out of the last thirty or forty, France was a net importer of electricity rather than an exporter. In 2023 they're an exporter again.
And they are now in the process of correcting the underinvestment.
Having 14% of the nations electricity transported from just 1 location is another problem all by itself even when it works.
Last year half the reactors in France were offline at one point:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/15/business/nuclear-power-fr...
I don't think nuclear should be overprovisioned, but it illustrates that nuclear also needs a plan B just like wind and solar does. IMO Plan B should be synthesized gas that has been generated when electricity was cheap due to overproduction or directly from cheap sources such as Solar.