
The radioactive boy scout: the teenager who attempted to build a breeder reactor - TriinT
http://www.harpers.org/archive/1998/11/0059750
======
blhack
To me, this illustrates a breakdown of our education system.

Why was this kid not noticed, and nurtured? Not to play the nerd card here,
but I can almost guarantee that if he had had an exceptionally good throwing
arm (instead of an affinity for chemistry), his school would have noticed and
would have helped him develop.

Maybe I'm just bitter because I grew up in a small town and saw this happening
all around me. This story reminds me a lot of a very close friend of mine that
used to manufacture all kinds of different chemicals in his garage, used some
of the same social-engineering skills to obtain the necessary equipment to do
so (accurate scales was always a problem because people though he was making
meth), and was completely and totally ignored by his school.

It's depressing; excelling physically seems to be more important than
excelling mentally. Where does that leave us?

~~~
asciilifeform
> Where does that leave us?

It leaves us here:

[http://memepunks.blogspot.com/2006/06/americas-war-on-
scienc...](http://memepunks.blogspot.com/2006/06/americas-war-on-science.html)

and ultimately, here:

<http://yarchive.net/physics/effete.html>

Linus Pauling developed an interest in chemistry by experimenting incessantly
throughout his childhood. Today, he would have been imprisoned. The new
generation will have no Linus Pauling, unless the Third World - where one
might still purchase a beaker without a license - supplies us with one.

~~~
jibiki
On the other hand, it's hard to argue that David Hahn's reactor should have
been legal.

~~~
asciilifeform
"May as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb."

The _legal_ thing to do was to sit and vegetate in front of a TV set. Or beat
smaller kids senseless. Or any of the other socially approved, mindless
activities open to children today. He chose to be a free spirit, and paid the
price.

~~~
jibiki
The point is, he endangered his neighbors. I'm sort of ambivalent about the
story. Should society let people build reactors? Sure. Should it let them
build reactors in an unshielded toolshed in a residential area? Hell no, but
it's still sort of awesome when it happens. And I'm not sure if it's really
more dangerous (from a societal perspective) than owning a car.

------
jrockway
It's really a shame that this kid couldn't get competent adult supervision.
With some structure in his life, things might have turned out differently for
him.

His social engineering skills were quite impressive... although his habitual
lying does make him seem like a psychopath.

All in all, very cool, and very sad. At least he didn't get sent to prison.

------
cubix
Apparently he was at it again in '07:
<http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0a6_1186335230>

What a shame. In the right environment, he could have done great things with
his talent.

~~~
mynameishere
Trying to make uranium out of lithium batteries....?

~~~
ryanwaggoner
More likely he was trying to harvest the americium-241 from the detectors:

<http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=340>

------
Element2
This is a classic story, here is what he looked like from the exposure to
radiation: <http://beto.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/david_hahn.jpg>

~~~
ludwig
I've seen that picture before, but it reminds me more of a meth-addict than
anything else.

------
jasongullickson
This is a good read for anyone who's ever wondered how hard it would be to
gather a complete collection of the elements that make up the periodic table.

------
RK
DIY home radiochemistry from some who actually seems to know what they are
doing (a nuclear engineering grad student):

[http://carlwillis.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/uranium-
chemistry...](http://carlwillis.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/uranium-chemistry/)

------
jokermatt999
I recall reading his book of it a while back. It was interesting, but I can't
recall whether it added much to the article.

------
woadwarrior01
I remember reading this a long time ago (~10 years) in the Reader's Digest.

