last October 2006 in North Korea, nuclear sillyness was demonstrated.
I know people that I wouldn't turn my back on if they had a pack of matches, nevermind " conventional weapons." I get and concede your point re regular arms, and second the point about the tree huggers praising technology that simply moves the "dirty" technology out of sight, as in coal generating plants providing power for electric/hybrid cars.
One thing I have a bit of trouble swallowing is the whole energy density comparison. To pack the same power, availble at the same rate, would require a bit more than carbon nano tubes to deliver without completely evaporating itself in a puff of plasma.