Concentration on solar is great but has some sub-optimalities. Concentration on an energy industry that could also provide materials for a cold war arms race was clearly a bad idea.
Why aren't people working on thorium reactors?
IMHO the success story isn't solar, it's lots of tools (PV, wind, water, burning waste, storage) building an energy market with many participants where for nuclear, a few large corporations can control it all.
That's what's happening in Germany, and the Big Four definitely don't like that. It's not all roses, but I prefer the situation now over the several decades of subsidies + no liability for an industry club of 4.
Wikipedia lists current projects in the US (~2015), India (~2013) and China (~?).
The reason for India's interest in the technology should be obvious, and it's quite probable that we'll see further development on that front.
"Whether it comes to benefit from carbon pricing or not, nuclear power would be more competitive if it were cheaper. Yet despite generous government research-and-development programmes stretching back decades, this does not look likely." http://www.economist.com/node/21549936
And the special report on that: http://www.economist.com/node/21549098
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium_fuel_cycle#Advantages_a...