SOLVED. Sci-fi book , about first contact with a tiny race of aliens that turn themselves into a nuclear bomb. [s]

[Howie]

This one dealt with a human exploration team that made first contact with a culture of aliens living on , I think, charon or pluto, who are tiny, obsessed with "mouth-parts" in a sexual manner, have very low body temperatures, and turn out the be unknowingly constructing a nuclear bomb. The bomb is a cultural/religious task, like building a pyramid, but it's used evolutionarily to disperse the aliens to new icy rocks by blowing them out into space.
I half remember this from my youth, and I'd love to read itm again. It was in dead-tree format.
Thanks in advance, guys!

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Howie, are you still looking for this or did you find it?

[Random]

Camelot 30K by Robert L Forward

Its a good story. I'd also recommend his Dragon's Egg and sequel Starquake.

[Andy]

Bump - was it Camelot 30K?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Here's the Kirkus review:

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...

This and other reviews convince me this is the right book. Moving to Solved.