An Orion would be like launching a nuclear reactor into space *while* it is undergoing a catastrophic meltdown. They should look to the effects of Chernobyl as a prime example of the catastrophe they would be facing afterwards. They might succeed handily with a nuclear electric spacecraft like Voyager. But I don't think they would attempt a nuclear propelled spacecraft inside the atmosphere - they certainly didn't overdo it with their nuclear weapons program, and in terms of showmanship, if they've convinced people such as yourselves that they are succeeding where NASA and ESA have failed, they are indeed 'playing the game' very well.

Ultimately - and it would take some extraordinary and totally unanticipated breakthrough to convinced me otherwise - they will hit the same brick wall as NASA. The multi-million tonnage of cargo-launch infrastructure needed to make space colonies self-sustaining just doesn't exist yet, and there are few if any possible solutions. I think a skyhook might be a good possibility, and I'm pretty sure rockets alone won't do it. There may be other ideas out there, but I don't know of any except Orion, which I don't support for obvious reasons.