They did, but at a cost that vastly exceeded the expected cost of building 25 reactors.

> Germany could have kept the existing nuclear power in 2002 and possibly invest in new nuclear capacity. The analysis of these two alternatives shows that Germany could have reached its climate gas emission target by achieving a 73% cut in emissions on top of the achievements in 2022 and simultaneously cut the spending in half compared to Energiewende.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14786451.2024.2...

Honestly a pretty shocking policy decision from the German government, and I imagine was entirely ideological rather than pragmatic.