Nuking is generally considered to be a bad idea. However, Wei evidently claims that his modified plan is the only viable option at relatively short notice:

Quote:
Wie's study has focused on providing the capability to respond to a threatening asteroid on short notices of a year or so...A nuclear weapon is the only thing that would work against an asteroid on short notice, Wie added. Other systems designed to divert an asteroid such as tugboats, gravity tractors, solar sails and mass drivers would require 10 or 20 years of advance notice.


"Time is what prevents everything from happening at once" - John Wheeler