The fact that nuclear plants last so long is a sort of unfortunate benefit. Nuclear plant production is cheaper when multiple plants of the same design are built together in serial production. But the longevity of nuclear plants mean that the need to build new ones is spaced out over decades.

That said, it's still the only non-intermittent clean energy source that isn't geographically dependent like hydro and geothermal. Plans to decarbonize civilization invariably involve either nuclear power, or a magnificent yet-to-be-invented breakthrough in energy storage.