The shocking true story of a teenager who gathered enough radioactive material from household items to irradiate his neighborhood.
"The Nuclear Scout – The teenager who built a nuclear reactor in his shed" recounts the terrifying true story of David Hahn. In the mid-1990s, this Michigan teenager, obsessed with chemistry and earning his Boy Scout merit badge, decided to build a breeder reactor in his mother's potting shed. He didn't have a lab; he had household items.
Science writer David Core details how Hahn sourced radioactive materials: americium from smoke detectors, thorium from camping lantern mantles, and radium from antique clocks. He posed as a physics teacher to get advice from government agencies. He actually succeeded in creating a neutron source that irradiated his neighborhood, leading to a massive EPA Superfund cleanup.
"The Nuclear Scout" is a story of unguided potential. It illustrates the thin line between genius and madness, showing what happens when intelligence and determination are applied without safety, ethics, or adult supervision.
David Core
Author
David Hahn Radioactive Boy Scout Nuclear Energy Obsession Science Gone Wrong 1990s Biography