Oopps. In what is being described as a “school-boy error” the British Ministry of Defence posted a report on-line which revealed secret information about the UK’s nuclear powered submarines. The sensitive material was “redacted” by turning the background black, so that the text was not readable.  The text was not removed, however, so that anyone who cut and pasted the text to another document could read, copy or distribute the “secret” information.   The MOD was unaware of the breach until it was pointed out by a journalist.

Internet mistake reveals UK nuclear submarine secrets

Details were reported to include expert opinion on how well the fleet could cope with a catastrophic accident.

The MoD said a secure version had now been published and it was working to stop such an incident happening again.

Information also included measures used by the US Navy to protect its nuclear submarines, the Daily Star Sunday reported.

The document was an assessment by the head of the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator, Commodore Andrew McFarlane, of the options for reactors for future submarines to replace the Trident fleet.

Some parts of the declassified dossier, published on the Parliament website, were redacted to protect sensitive information.

In the sections that were supposed to be released, it was concluded that existing reactors were “potentially vulnerable” to fatal accidents.

This caused ministers to suggest that different types would be used in future.

A spokesman for the MoD, which was told about the blunder by the Daily Star Sunday, said: “The MoD is grateful to the journalist for bringing this matter to our attention.

Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing the news along.