What is the longest time an unexploded atomic bomb could survive underground?
In the story I'm building, a 3rd atomic bomb (same spec as Fat Man) was created for use on Japan - and dropped.
However, for whatever reason, the 3rd bomb never detonated - impacted the ground and became burried in the ground (as many unexploded munitions from WW2 have been).
In the story, the bomb is to unexpectedly detonate years later - causing political turmoil and accusations.
What is the longest this atomic bomb could be left underground, and still have the potential to detonate?
To extend the timeframe, it is perfectly acceptable to use extremely unlikely but technically possible circumstances that explain away blockers things like "atomic weapons had a 3-day activity due to needing batteries replaced".
It is also acceptable for the bomb to have detonated due to a natural event, or regular construction event (or similar), so long as nobody knows about the bomb untill it detonates.
This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/123688. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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