Fundingfor the deep penetration mini-nuke has been stopped. I think that’s a good thing.
Good, good. 
Now, let’s work on getting rid of all of them…
I am very glad to hear this.
Ditto.
No.
We might need one or two…to stop/re-direct a cometary/asteroid strike.
Besides—
The nations of the world are like wild beasts, wearing the masks of saints.
All of them. Do not be fooled.
Good point. But let’s vow to never, ever, ever, under any circumstance, use them against another nation.
Nice idea. I would like to think we live in a world where it could work. I’m not so sure though 
Is that your wording, or a quote? It’s gorgeous.
Have you read Hoawrd Bloom’s The Lucifer Principle? I’m not quite sure what to make of him, but his take on the superorganism is very like what you wrote.
Sailboat
My own wording, & from the heart as well as the head.
Good thing it’s Halloween, 'cause the people in charge are scary!! :eek: :eek: :eek:
Bosda, you’re too young to be so cynical.
I’m 42.
You godda problem with that? :dubious:
What color is the sky in your world, Polyanna?
Technically speaking, it was an interesting idea, but it just didn’t work. The project wasn’t canceled simply because in involved big, bad, eeeeevil nuclear warheads, but because it turned out to be impossible to drive them deep enough underground to keep them from “roman candling.”
Sometimes things just come all over busted.
Why, exactly, should the US limit itself like that? I can imagine many scenerios where the use of nuclear weapons might be completely neccessary to win or stalemate a war. At the very least, the US needs to have a large supply (enough to cause any plausible group of opposing countries to cease functioning as nations) ready, as a deterrent to being nuked first. Obvisouly, if the US vowed to never use such weapons against other nations, there wouldn’t be any deterrent effect.
The only nuclear weapons anyone should be allowed to possess are multi-megaton ICBMs capable of taking out large metropolitan areas and rendering substatial chunks of land completely uninhabitable.
Why? Because those nukes are completely worthless unless you are crazy enough to want to end all human life. If you are, there is a good chance someone in your cadre is not and will prevent you from pushing the button. If you are not, the bombs quietly sit in well-guarded silos and don’t pose a real threat to anyone.
Creating smaller nukes, in the kiloton range, is actively harmful to life and peace on Earth because of projects like this. Small nukes can be seen as useful, maybe even useful in peactime projects (Digging a new Panama Canal, anyone?), and thus will be used by otherwise sane people, releasing some very nasty nuclear material into the environment. Historically speaking, we’ve been rather bad at predcting and preventing long-term side effects from the pollutants we release.
Large nukes are a deterrent and nothing else. Small nukes are a tool with side effects we cannot tolerate.
The general idea is that nobody uses them, not just the U.S. The human cost / damage toll is just too high.
Exgineer: Pollyanna, schnookums. Why should we keep those “big, bad, eeeeevil nuclear warheads” around?
To clarify, because I didn’t see Derleth’s post earlier–to actively use them in warfare. Peacetime projects, as long as they’re rigidly controlled and involve no loss of human life, I have no problem with.
I do – read The Firecracker Boys, about Project Chariot. Or read up on Project Gasbuggy – if anything was more stupid than digging an unwanted and uneccessary deep-water harbor in the Arctic with nukes, it’s blowing them up under Pennsylvania in an ill-considered quest for cheap natural gas storage.
Dammit, and I was hoping to get one for Christmas!
C’mon guys, this is MPSIMS, ya know …
Countries like China and India can easily afford the loss of multiple cities. With populations of over 1 billion, the loss of a hundred million or two is actually a benefit: less mouths to feed. Even 50% population loss would see them still the most populous countries in the world. And if another few million die from clearing up the radiation, from their eyes, so what?