... as I recall; one of the problems with "Project Plowshare" was that atomic earth-moving left a lot of radioactive earth. Dirt and rock is one of the things that holds onto radiation the longest. So you could do all sorts of gee-whiz keeno stuff with atomic munitions- but then you couldn't use them for anything!
That really was an odd business. Conflicted people trying to find a peaceful use, not merely for atomic energy, but for atomic bombs... It does seem a bit like: If all you have is a hammer, every job looks like a nail. Or: If all you have is a nuke, everything looks like ground zero.
ReplyDeleteObviously though, you could use facilities nuked out of the bedrock. You just decide what is a "safe" dose and rotate your people out every few (dozen) rads. No problem.