The Boy Scout Who Made a Nuclear Reactor

By using common household items and an out of date textbook.

In 1994, a teenager was seen walking around his area with a small electronic device in his hand. In today’s society, this would not be a surprise, but this was not a mobile phone; it was a Geiger counter he was holding.

Why?

He was monitoring whether the reactor he had built in his mother’s potting shed was working.

David Hahn was a regular Boy Scout. When his parents divorced, his dad was worried that he was isolated, so he sent him to Scouts. That decision changed the course of David’s life in a way neither of his parents could ever imagine.

When he started working through his badges, he wasn’t interested in the mundane, such as helping your neighbour or local community. Only one interested him, and that was in Atomic Energy; yes, that was actually a badge when he earned it in 1991. David’s passion for Scouts led to his arrest for making a nuclear reactor with everyday items.