Why can’t we detonate nukes in space to dispose of them?

Question

I’m aware that it’s illegal to put any kind of weapon in space, for the sake of the explanation assume there’s no legal reason why not.

My Grug Smash brain has me wondering that if nuclear weapons are so difficult to properly dispose of, surely the easiest option would be to set them off somewhere where they can’t cause any damage.

In: Physics

Answer 1

Rockets exploding on the way to space is uncommon but not totally rare [(for example)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton-M#Reliability), and you really really dont want to spread radioactive material over a huge area if one of the rockets explode or crash.

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thats also why why never used stuff like [Project Orion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propulsion))

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Also you can use the fissile material from nuclear warheads in nuclear power plants