How does intercepting an ICBM not trigger a nuclear explosion?

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assuming the ICBM is a nuclear warhead…. Doesn’t the whole process behind a nuclear warhead involve an explosion that propels the nuclear “fuel” to start a chain reaction? i.e. exploding a warhead will essentially be the same as the explosion that causes the isotope to undergo fission?

ig the same can be said about conventional bombs as well but nuclear is more confusing.

In: Chemistry

17 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

People have the wrong assumption of how nuclear weapons work. They’re not nitroglycerine, they don’t explode if you breathe on them wrong. In fact you can drop them, hit them, destroy them, and the chances that they accidentally go off are next to zero, because the only way a nuclear warhead ever goes off is if a very specific mechanism triggers a very specific reaction in a very specific way so that it can actually create a nuclear explosion. Change anything in those conditions, like trying to make it go without the specific firing mechanism, disturbing the structure and arrangement of components in any way, and it won’t go off. It’s a dud. A wet fart.

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