There is no way that the US or the USSR (the only countries with enough nukes to even theoretically support such a plan) would have provided 200+ nuclear bombs for something like this.
In the 1960s and early 1970s the US did ponder the possibilities of using nuclear bombs for peaceful purposes. Here is a report from the Department of Energy about the "Plowshare" nuclear explosive tests if you're curious. The last test of nuclear explosives for the purpose of excavation was in 1970 before common sense took hold. By the latter part of the 1970s the US was well aware of the radioactive consequences of digging holes with nuclear bombs.
The theoretical feasibility of such a project is more of a /r/askscience question. They could probably provide a better answer about exactly how much radioactive contamination and fallout such an insane scheme would have produced.