David Hahn, known as the “Radioactive Boy Scout,” was a Michigan teenager who, in 1994, at the age of 17, attempted to build a nuclear reactor in his backyard using radioactive materials from household items. His project produced dangerous levels of radiation, forcing the Environmental Protection Agency to dismantle his shed and classify it as hazardous waste. Despite his scientific passion, Hahn later faced mental and legal problems and passed away in 2016 at the age of 39. David Hahn, born in 1976 in Royal Oak, Michigan, developed an obsession with science early in life. As a child, he was fascinated by the mysteries of the natural world. By the age of ten, he was conducting experiments and tinkering with projects in his bedroom lab. By the age of 14, he had synthesized nitroglycerin. His parents thought it was innocent fun until a small explosion in his bedroom forced him to move the lab to the basement. This gave him more space and even more privacy to experiment. His enthusiasm for science was further fueled when his stepfather gave him The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments. This book contained detailed instructions on how to set up a safe and functional home lab, including how to obtain basic equipment and chemicals. It offered a wide range of simple and innocent experiments, such as making invisible ink, creating crystals, and testing various substances. Another shocking experiment in the book included detailed instructions on how to make chloroform from common household chemicals such as bleach and acetone. David says he prepared the chemical, applied it to his face, sniffed it according to the book’s instructions, and passed out for over an hour. As his experiments became increasingly complex and dangerous, his father encouraged him to join the Scouts, hoping it would give him structure and steer his scientific pursuits in a safer direction. Hahn’s involvement with the Boy Scouts only fueled his scientific aspirations. He had been a voracious collector of merit badges, but when he saw the Atomic Energy badge, he made it his mission to get one. So he decided to build a breeder reactor, a type of reactor that could produce more fissile material than it consumed. Khan contacted the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, using aliases and made-up stories to obtain the information and materials he needed. He dismantled household items and scoured landfills for radioactive elements. He obtained americium-241 from smoke detectors, radium-226 from ancient clocks, and thorium-232 from parts of camp lanterns. Using a lead block with a hole drilled in it as his “reactor,” he used lithium extracted from thousands of dollars’ worth of batteries to purify the thorium ash, using a Bunsen burner to heat the mixture. He did all this in a shed in a suburban backyard without proper safety precautions. The potential for radiation exposure and environmental contamination was high. He posed a serious danger to himself and others. By combining various radioactive materials, he had inadvertently created a raw neutron source. This means that his setup was actually generating free neutrons, the subatomic particles needed to initiate and sustain nuclear fission reactions. While Hahn’s experiment produced neutrons, it was far from creating the self-sustaining chain reaction needed for a breeder reactor. His materials were dirty, his methods were inefficient, and he simply didn’t understand enough about nuclear physics to pull it off. Even if the experiment hadn’t achieved its goal, the presence of a neutron source meant that radiation had been emitted. This radiation, mostly in the form of gamma rays, was strong enough to be detected several houses away from the shed in the backyard.
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