system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Would shooting down a nuclear missile result in a nuclear explosion?

Regarding a successful missile defense system, intercepting a nuclear missile launch.
gpt
No, detonating a nuclear bomb requires a fairly precise set of conditions. The fissionable materials in the device are stored in a subcritical state. That means that on their own, they're not dense enough to cause a chain reaction.

The actual detonation involves pushing the fissionable materials into a supercritical state, where a chain reaction occurs naturally and this causes the actual explosion (and in the case of a thermonuclear bomb or H-bomb, this also sets off the fusion reaction that amplifies the total explosive power). There are multiple mecanisms to achieve this, but they all rely on rather precisely controlled explosions of conventional explosives.

If a nuclear missile is shot down or otherwise blown up in a way that doesn't trigger the conventional explosives in the right way, then the nuclear reactions won't take place. However, there may still be fallout from the radioactive fissionable materials in the device being spread out over the nearby area.