Lol. “Scifi” is always overly optimistic. But it does point us in the right direction. :)
For propulsion, it might make sense. Maybe the problem is more misconceptions. Those evil nukes kill people.
Project Orion was not “Scifi” - it was a real project with some of the finest scientists, engineers, and small nuclear bomb designers we had at the time.
It was not “evil nukes” either - it was just as I said earlier. There are all sorts of documentaries on the Project and a fair number of books.
Later, the NERVA nuclear power plant was killed for much the same reasons.