with the number of nuclear weapons in the world now, and how old a lot are, how is it possible we’ve never accidentally set one off?

Question

Title says it. Really curious how we’ve escaped this kind of occurrence anywhere in the world, for the last ~70 years.

In: Engineering

Answer 1

You don’t just make a nuclear bomb. It takes an extraordinary amount of effort to produce one, and just as much expertise. You don’t just happen across them.

Such an investment is well cared-for, and countries go to great lengths to keep their nukes secure. The number of missing nuclear warheads is not zero, but it is very small. Among them, most are certain to no longer function. Remember, nuclear weapons are very very difficult to set off. Damaging one just renders it more inert.