1. no
2. newsound folder doesn't exist and it seems that Minecraft won't redownload/recreate a blank one (using a modded jar which possibly loads nuclearControl before the vanilla resources folder download
3. n/a
4. If the "newsound" folder is re-created under the resources folder (so nuclearControl can place it's folder into it), then the client doesn't crash
I've tried it on both my MacBook (HD 3000 graphics) and MacMini (GeForce 9400 graphics) and had the same issue due to Mac's default of overwriting folder contents when you copy the folder with the same name (all of the users in Kane's post including myself were using the same private modpack).
It seems that the bug reports (java.lang.NullPointerException) from Kane's post and, mine and another user on our forums (with an ATI X1600 dedicated video card) are all being caused when the newsounds folder is missing from the resources folder when nuclearControl tries to place it's folder into it. 