Nuclear Warheads Could Explode 'Like Popcorn': Report

London, June 26 (PTI) A design defect in UK's nuclear weapons could cause warheads to detonate one after another in a chain reaction if they were accidentally dropped, according to Britain's nuclear-weapons safety manual. According to the declassified nuclear-weapons safety manual, drawn up by Britain's Ministry of Defence internal nuclear-weapons regulator, more than 1,700 warheads are affected by the problem, which would cause them set off a chain reaction known as "popcorning" if they were accidentally dropped, The Daily Telegraph said. The manual, seen by the New Scientist, says that warheads should be capable of resisting multiple simultaneous impacts which "would contribute to the prevention of popcorning and should be a design objective". The safety manual argues that the present standard single-point design might not... [read full story]