Yes. Nuclear pulse is better. Magnetic confinement might work for fusion but it would be tricky for fission. You'd have to let your nuclear fuel melt or even vaporize to get hot enough. That'd be a bear to regulate without control rods.

You can do nuclear electric with ion engines, but those are such low thrust that they'd still be slower than chemical in the inner solar system. Could be very attractive for missions to the outer planets though.