That’s an argument for resuming the nuclear testing. Some of the tests, namely for the two-point-initiation linear implosion systems, are aimed to test that a single-side detonation won’t produce appreciable yield.
Then there are the concepts of stronglink-weaklink and other systems designed to fail safely when the thing is subjected to anomalous conditions. Then there’s the TATB, the high explosive so insensitive that even DOT with their cowardice is classifying it as a flammable solid for transportation safety purposes. Quite a lot of effort goes into making sure the minisuns stay in their little cages unless intentionally let out.
…sometimes with comical results. The W47 warhead was shown, just before the test ban, to yield 100 tons of boom at the single-point test. So they safed the pits by folding boron-cadmium alloy wire inside, to suppress the fission, and pulled the wire out with a small motor as a part of the arming sequence. Little did they know that the wire gets brittle over time and breaks off, and that the lubricant they coated it with promoted corrosion of the pits.Oops.
Sword, plowshare, same steel. (Okay, somewhat different composition and heat treatment but the same ferrous alloys family.) Usually many aspects of a given technology are identical for both its facets.
