Radioactive Boy Scout arrested
Aug. 8th, 2007 02:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gizaSome of you might remember the story of the Radioactive Boy Scout. Some years ago, then 14-year old David Hahn tried making a homemade nuclear reactor in a shed in his back yard. This involved uh, "liberating" americium-241 from many smoke detectors so that he could get a steady stream of alpha particles in the creation of his reactor.
Long story short, he was eventually caught and the EPA had to come in and take the now radioactive shed away.
Well, it turns out that he just made the news again. This time for stealing smoke detectors:
The rest of the article can be found here.
Is the piece a little sensationalistic? Maybe. But it does make for an interesting (if saddening) read about what became of David.
Long story short, he was eventually caught and the EPA had to come in and take the now radioactive shed away.
Well, it turns out that he just made the news again. This time for stealing smoke detectors:
"Radioactive Boy Scout" worries neighbors
By Christina Hall
Detroit Free Press
DETROIT — Could David Hahn, once dubbed the "Radioactive Boy Scout," have been trying to build a nuclear reactor again?
Clinton Township police would only be speculating, but the 30-year-old — who as a teenager tried to earn a merit badge by building a nuclear reactor in his mother's potting shed — was arrested Thursday on charges of stealing a smoke detector from his suburban Detroit apartment complex.
Smoke detectors contain small amounts of radioactive americium, which was found in larger quantities in 1995 in the shed Hahn used. At that time, the federal Environmental Protection Agency became involved, the area became a Superfund site, Harper's magazine wrote an article and his story became a book.
Hahn received a Scouting merit badge for atomic energy in 1991, the magazine article said.
In the most recent incident, Hahn was charged with larceny from a building and was being held Friday in Macomb County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bail after arraignment Thursday. During an interview with police, he denied taking the smoke detector, Capt. Richard Maierle said.
Maierle said a maintenance man at Green Valley Apartments saw Hahn on Wednesday taking the smoke detector off a wall.
By Christina Hall
Detroit Free Press
DETROIT — Could David Hahn, once dubbed the "Radioactive Boy Scout," have been trying to build a nuclear reactor again?
Clinton Township police would only be speculating, but the 30-year-old — who as a teenager tried to earn a merit badge by building a nuclear reactor in his mother's potting shed — was arrested Thursday on charges of stealing a smoke detector from his suburban Detroit apartment complex.
Smoke detectors contain small amounts of radioactive americium, which was found in larger quantities in 1995 in the shed Hahn used. At that time, the federal Environmental Protection Agency became involved, the area became a Superfund site, Harper's magazine wrote an article and his story became a book.
Hahn received a Scouting merit badge for atomic energy in 1991, the magazine article said.
In the most recent incident, Hahn was charged with larceny from a building and was being held Friday in Macomb County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bail after arraignment Thursday. During an interview with police, he denied taking the smoke detector, Capt. Richard Maierle said.
Maierle said a maintenance man at Green Valley Apartments saw Hahn on Wednesday taking the smoke detector off a wall.
The rest of the article can be found here.
Is the piece a little sensationalistic? Maybe. But it does make for an interesting (if saddening) read about what became of David.
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Date: 2007-08-08 07:25 pm (UTC)