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They also deal with a galaxy of government regulations.
I still dont know if they'd be profitable without both the regulations and the subsidies, but it at least makes me uncertain.
I'd also guess that the best application for nuclear engines is strictly forbidden by regulations: maritime usage. The US Navy has nuclear submarines and nuclear powered aircraft carriers. The US Navy isn't stupid. Nuclear power has a really good power density ratio, especially when you are surrounded by unlimited water.
Disclaimer: all guesses, just talking out of my ass.
Maritime/naval usage is indeed the best use-case for nuclear power, and that's one of the reasons why the military uses nuclear-powered vessels.
As for the government regulations, I'm not actually too bothered by them on nuclear. I don't have a problem with laws preventing my neighbours from operating a backyard nuclear reactor or building a perfect replica of the demon core in order to test their reactions and screwdriver control. I'm sure a case can be made that those regulations are badly written and far too onerous, but I'm very happy that we do actually regulate them.
I might be misinterpreting you because of the "but" in your sentence:
It is not contradictory to think "I'm glad a thing is regulated" and "the regulations on that thing are too onerous".
A regulation can be too onerous when the cost of the regulation is greater than the expected benefit in safety.
An example: imagine a 1 in 10 chance of a $1 million dollar disaster -$100k expected value. A safety regulation reduces that chance by 50%, meaning the value of that safety regulation is $50k. If it costs more than $50k to implement it is onerous.
Some laws pass this hurdle, others don't. Seatbelt laws pass. Child safety seat laws fail.
There are multiple reasons to believe that nuclear power regulations are going to tend to be more onerous:
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