Project Plowshare: Peaceful Nukes

Project Plowshare was a US government program that ran between 1957 and 1977. It aimed to explore peaceful uses for nuclear explosives, including rock-blasting, creating new elements, and gathering geological data. One proposed idea was to use nuclear bombs to excavate dig sites, such as a proposed alternate canal to the Suez through the Negev Desert. However, the project was eventually abandoned due to concerns over the amount of radiation it would produce.