It's also worth looking at the worlds other great canal - Suez. Look at how easily it was blocked in 1956 by the Egyptians scuttling several dozen cargo ships, how long it took to clear, and the disruption to trade it caused. Unlike the Soviets re Panama, they were right there onsite and had almost uncontested control of at least one bank.
Nuking the Panama canal (which could have entailed just sailing an old ship into it and setting off the bomb it carried), is the easiest way the Soviets could strangle trade and military transport for about half the planet. Even if the channel wasn't completely blocked, having a radioactive wreck there would, and I've said earlier, prevent virtually any civilian shipping passing. Naval vessels may will still get through though, if they buttoned up and decontaminated once past the "hot zone".
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If it moves, shoot it, if not push it, if it still doesn't move, use explosives.
Nothing happens in isolation - it's called "the butterfly effect"
Mors ante pudorem
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