Man arrested for building a nuclear reactor in his apartment

[Schadenfroh]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/08/02/diy_swedish_nuclear_reactor/

That experiment had involved radioactive materials taken from smoke detectors – presumably americium-241 – and other radioactive substances he had bought from a foreign source.

A couple of weeks ago, according to the HD, he wrote to the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority and asked if it was legal to build a home nuclear reactor.

The constables arrested the would-be reactor maker, brought him in for questioning, then released him after his cooperative debriefing.

Looks more like a meth experiment than a nuclear experiment...

He should have teamed up with the guy that was arrested for raising his own 100+ man army:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2157772

 

[Wanescotting]

Guess ATOT just lost a member

 

[ElFenix]

wish i'd have thought of that for high school science fair

 

[arcenite]

OP -- do you work for fox news?

The man was released.

 

[zinfamous]

Is this why Rubycon hasn't posted in a while?

:hmm:

 

[rcpratt]

Yeah, you're gonna need more than Am-241 to do that.

 

[Jeff7]

Is this why Rubycon hasn't posted in a while?

:hmm:

She probably would have built one that works. 😀

 

[Rubycon]

404, reactor not found.

😀

 

[OutHouse]

lol im sure the person who opened and read that letter had to read it a few times to make sure he wasnt going bat shit crazy.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I don't get why he'd be arrested though, at least he asked. It's not like he tried to hide it. He realized it may not be legal so decided to inform himself. If anything they should have just gotten a warrent to do a quick look at his apartment months later to ensure he listened.

At least he did not do like this guy. Chernobyl called, they want their disaster back. :awe:

When it comes to DIY energy, solar, wind, geothermal etc are much safer and simpler alternatives. 😱

 

[brblx]

heh, the 'radiactive boy scout' got arrested a few years ago for stealing smoke detectors. he also looked like he was doing meth, but they claimed it was radiation.

 

[Rubycon]

I don't get why he'd be arrested though, at least he asked. It's not like he tried to hide it. He realized it may not be legal so decided to inform himself. If anything they should have just gotten a warrent to do a quick look at his apartment months later to ensure he listened.

At least he did not do like this guy. Chernobyl called, they want their disaster back. :awe:

When it comes to DIY energy, solar, wind, geothermal etc are much safer and simpler alternatives. 😱

Simple, he does not understand the fundamentals of radiation safety and could potentially endanger himself as well as others.

The "simplest" way to generate electromotive force from a nuclear decay is with RTG (radioisotope thermoelectric generation). Even so the source must be heavily shielded. There are quite a few of these just lying around if you're willing to travel to Russia. 😉

The "betaphotovoltaic cell" is definitely the safest with zero emission but its output is feeble, perhaps enough to power things like calculators and timepieces which can be done with a simple PV cell and ambient room light. 😉