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

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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

21 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

As far as I understand it, the difficulty is political. And not practical. Ie nuclear weapons create a state called mutually assured destruction. Where no side stands to gain much from such a war as both would be destroyed or near enough. As soon as one country disposes of them, it exposes them to obliteration and so there are real political pressures not to dispose them as this would create an imbalance.

From a practical disposal sense I’m pretty sure they can be stripped down to their component parts safely and the nuclear materiel repurposed to civilian functions.