Would nuclear bombs be an accepted weapon if they weren't radioactive?

In My Humble Opinion
21

Exactly, and modern explosive compounds are more powerful for a given mass than TNT, hence the upper range of the yield estimate.

22

Didn’t the Americans deny that people were dying from radiation following Hiroshima & Nagasaki? The called it Japanese propaganda.

23

I’d say yes, because of the changing Zeitgeist. In WWII we devastated cities with firebombs and caused as much or more loss of life than the A-bomb. Nowadays, things are different and that level of widespread destruction wouldn’t be popular at all.

24

How about Gamma Ray Bombs?

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn4049

Not much fallout, more death per gram.