And the whole thing was rushed forwards in the mid 20th century as a byproduct of the national desire for nuclear weapons, and remarkably little growth has occurred since that driver decreased.
The obvious explanation of the timing is Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.
Do you believe that Japan and Germany built nuclear plants for the purpose of eventually building weapons?
Japan and Germany are interesting cases, both for the same reason: rich nations with little or declining fossil fuels. Germany's buildout of nuclear power corresponds to the timing of the beginning of the decline in the production of high-quality coal in that country, and Japan has no fossil fuels of its own so nuclear was far more competitive. With plentiful fossil fuels around nobody does nuclear since it's harder, though even the nations which use nuclear invariably have quite a lot of fossil fuel use which I would wager 'subsidizes' it.
You know the drill - If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.