Fine: top insane shit people suggested for nukes (dredging canals doesn't even make the top 5): - Nike-Ajax, aka "You're not allowed to nuke our cities, only we're allowed to nuke our cities, and coincidentally now we need to invent neutron bombs. But not for the reason you think"
- open-cycle gas core nuclear rockets. You weren't planning on using that orbital path for anything else, right? - XK Pluto, aka fuck this planet in particular.
- Everyone's favorite: Project Orion, aka Ol' Sparky. Look, if you have a better idea of how to get the USS New Jersey on station around Neptune to fight the Fithp on short notice, I'd like to hear it.
- Nuclear pumped x-ray lasers. Now, you might ask: do these work? No. Are they cheap? Also no. Will we carefully investigate the science before wasting a lot of money? Buddy, you are not going to believe this.
- Hafnium nuclear-pumped isomers. Because you want all the fun of the nuclear x ray laser (that doesn't work) at home. - Nuclear bombers. Not bombers with nukes. Nuclear bombers.
US intel thinks USSR is working on nuclear-powered bomber, puts actual reactor in B-36 airframe just to fly around live for practice. USSR sees this and puts one in a Tu-95 (Tu-95LL) as counter move. What could go wrong?
I mean, we did build a working nuclear jet engine. We tested it! It totally would have worked, for certain values of "worked."
But....Footfall!!
You will never convince me that people ever thought nuclear-pumped x-ray lasers were a good idea for any reason other than the fact that they have the words "nuclear", "x-ray", *and* "laser" in the name. Heck, we already have x-ray free-electron lasers, and they actually work.
Now winkle "AI" in there somehow and you'll have a real winner. /s
Coming in very late, but speaking of nuclear bombers, how do we feel about the Burevestnik? (Also s/o to the wonderfully titled Soviet paper "Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy.")