system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Star wars] Are Proton Torpedos nuclear weapons?
gpt
No. They basically function as a matter disruption explosive. They have a warhead that scatters protons (thus the name), causing atoms within the blast radius to basically tear themselves apart. Where a nuclear weapon uses that to fuel an explosion, here it's just a consequence of the explosion. It doesn't appear to generate nuclear-level explosions, from what we see when Wedge's torpedoes impact the Death Star.