O young David Hahn, 17, is an American who became known as a "Radioactive Boy Scout" after trying to build a homemade nuclear reactor in his backyard around 1995. To get to that point, all he had to do was use coffee filters and a few jars of pickles to put the lives of 40,000 people at risk.
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the radioactive boy scout
At that time, the local authorities of the city of Commerce Township, in the state of Michigan, had to prevent that situation so that the end of it would not be tragic. After the incident, David received the nickname "Radioactive Boy Scout", as he was already fascinated by science since he was a child.
His fascination for the area is so great that, at just 10 years old, he was already studying chemistry. Also, at 14, he was able to produce nitroglycerin, which is a highly explosive chemical compound. Due to so many experiments created, Hahn managed to damage his room. His parents had to relocate the “lab” to a shed in their backyard. And it was precisely in this shed that he began the construction of the nuclear reactor.
For the construction of the homemade reactor, David used materials that are accessible and can be easily found. Some of them were: tritium (extracted from night sights for weapons), lithium (extracted from batteries), radium (found in watches) and thorium (which is extracted from flashlights).
Thus, with all the materials in hand, he began the experiment by handling these highly hazardous materials through filters and glass jars. With all the materials in hand, David created a primitive neutron source, but which was incapable of producing fuel compared to other reactors.
While he was giving life to the invention, what he didn't know was that his reactor was already spreading a detectable radiation that already covered countless houses in his neighborhood. After the police located David, the story spread.
Federal authorities were mobilized, so soon the Environmental Protection Agency was on the doorstep of the Hahn family home. Leading up to a happy ending, the reactor was collected and buried like garbage. radioactive in Utah.
It is known that David was investigated in 2007, shortly after the suspicion of a new attempt to assemble another reactor arose. He was even arrested for stealing smoke detectors to acquire a chemical. Hahn died in 2016 at the age of 39 after suffering an overdose.
