That is a depressingly accurate way to describe Atomic Rockets. But I can forgive it, because it introduced me to the NSWR. [0] And something that metal just deserves to be seen.
> The advantage of NSWR is that this is the only known propulsion system that combines high exhaust velocity with high thrust (in other words, it is a Torchship). The disadvantage is that it combines many of the worst problems of the Orion and Gas Core systems. For starters, using it for take-offs will leave a large crater that will glow blue for several hundred million years, as will everything downwind in the fallout area.
0: http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/enginelist2.php...