"Odd that the Navy can operate nuclear power but we can't seem to get it right in civilian life."
The Navy's reactors are built to withstand combat stress events so the level of engineering for possible failure modes is an order of magnitude higher than civilian reactors. Different reactor design and scale of power output. The economics of recouping the capital costs of generating power don't come into play. Plus, there's no feasible evacuation route if you're on a sub.
