“I believe we need at least two or more conventional CV’s as well”
That is not going to happen. Nuclear plants are needed because of the of the power they produce. Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System(EMALS), railguns, free electron lasers, dynamic armor and other future upgrades require large sums of power that only a nuclear reactor like the A1B on the Gerald R. Ford class can provide.
I know it's not going to happen. Putting all the eggs in one basket can be a huge mistake. Granted there are some smaller carriers LHA conventional that can carry vertical launch and landing aircraft.
Now war is war. In war targets get hit even carriers. We know this from WW2. We also know from the 1960's they can suffer mass causalities from events on the ship itself. It takes roughly a year and a half to get a Nuke Snipe from enlistment to first ship or boat. War doesn't wait for training nor does mass causalities.
Too many assets are being put at risk with poor planning like homeporting all East Coast Carriers CVN's out of one port. Worse the east coast maintenance yard is there as well. One lucky hit in war could take out our entire carrier building capabilities, a good chunk of the carriers possibly, the maintenance yard, and half of our sub building program. This remains uncorrected by the same clowns who believe we still need more downsizing.
I'm highly skeptical of EMALS. I got a question for you. How fast can electricity travel? 186,000 MPS right? The instant it is shut off it is not there. There is no in between. However 1200 PSI of steam on the other hand is there and you know it's there. It's a sure bet. That's something to ponder on. One of the things I recall on the ship was the blackouts from where a generator suddenly tripped off line.