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Depends on the bomb design and the country. In the US all nuclear weapons now have a PAL (Permissive Action Link) installed. The PAL is a cryptographically controlled device connected to all arming, safing, and destruct systems. The president has a device called the "football" with him at all times, usually carried by an aide. If the president decides a nuclear attack is necessary he uses the "football" to select the plan and it transmits the PAL codes and targeting information. Unless the PAL code is entered by the operators correctly the device will not arm. If they get the code wrong 3 times the PAL refuses all further entries and will not arm. If they persist after 3 bad codes the PAL may choose to destroy the device by detonating the chemical explosives with the nuclear component disarmed.

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