The Flaming Mountain

This would be pretty easily updated.

There is almost no chance the US or other countries would provide a small nuke
to make a hole in a mountain.
But back then there was an Atoms For Peace project to try and find ways to
use nuclear weapons other than in war.
There were some plane to make a canal across Central America by using
underground nuclear explosions.
I think some thought was given to using them to dig tunnels.

But instead of a nuke, use a vast amount of C4 or refer to the Texas City disaster or other massive accidents and you could get the same effect.

The politics described in the book are pretty complicated for a book aimed aimed
at middle school kids.
This bit gave me a special thrill as a kid.
“We weren't thinking of dynamite,” Hartson Brant said quietly,
“We were thinking of a nuclear explosion”