Swedish Man Tries to Build Homemade Nuclear Reactor in Kitchen
- Posted on August 3, 2011 at 11:33am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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STOCKHOLM (AP) — A Swedish man who was arrested after trying to split atoms in his kitchen said Wednesday he was only doing it as a hobby.
Richard Handl told The Associated Press that he had the radioactive elements radium, americium and uranium in his apartment in southern Sweden when police showed up and arrested him on charges of unauthorized possession of nuclear material.
The 31-year-old Handl said he had tried for months to set up a nuclear reactor at home and kept a blog about his experiments, describing how he created a small meltdown on his stove.
Only later did he realize it might not be legal and sent a question to Sweden’s Radiation Authority, which answered by sending the police.
“I have always been interested in physics and chemistry,” Handl said, adding he just wanted to “see if it’s possible to split atoms at home.”
The police raid took place in late July, but police have refused to comment. If convicted, Handl could face fines or up to two years in prison.
Although he says police didn’t detect dangerous levels of radiation in his apartment, he now acknowledges the project wasn’t such a good idea.
“From now on, I will stick to the theory,” he said.
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mrsmileyface
Posted on August 5, 2011 at 4:38pmWhat the HECK is going on in Scandinavia! First its the crazy shooter in Norway…now its some Swedish dude who is reinacting the movie The Manhattan Project. Whats next the Swedish Bikini Team strapping bombs to their chest and shouting THIS ONES FOR ALL THE TUNA!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »Ft Lauderdale Dad
Posted on August 5, 2011 at 1:26pmIf this moron could obtain nuclear material for a hobby…how easy must it be for well funded and determined muslim fanatic group?
Report Post »calamitykate
Posted on August 5, 2011 at 10:19amA seventeen year old did this back in the ‘90’s, he too was successful for a short time, but couldnt contain it. Read “The Radioactive Boy Scout” sometime, its great! Scary part is, he did it with only instructions from his chemistry book.
Report Post »J.C. McGlynn
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 3:59pmArrested so he won’t suceed. The power companies can’t have you off their grid.
Report Post »Lesbian Packing Hollow Points
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:45pmI look forward to the day every American home comes equipped with one of these
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHdRJqi__Z8
as standard equipment, like central A/C.
Report Post »Lesbian Packing Hollow Points
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 12:01amAnd then, there’s this kid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RVlg8M8XRs
Report Post »lylejk
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:42pmIt would have been much easier and a whole lot safer to try Pons and Fleischmann’s experiment. lol
:)
Report Post »Carol Ingian
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 8:39pmHe needs a new hobby! :)
Report Post »dontbotherme
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 7:58pmThis sounds like something my son & his friends would have tried when they were younger. For fun they once memorized the periodic table of elements. Geeky scientific people must be watched at all times.
Report Post »teamarcheson
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 8:19pmI wish there were more details to this story. How many grams of each element did he use? This would be a good way to go Green and start generating your own electricity. Before WWII, Uranium was used to harden tools. I’ll bet there are a lot of old tools at flea markets just waiting to be purchased.
Report Post »MUDFLAPS
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 7:16pmI build on in the bathroom once, or, well my wife thought I did.
Report Post »Lesbian Packing Hollow Points
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:42pmWrong type of industrial waste.
Report Post »MickyD
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 7:14pmFor the story of the US incident like this you can read “The Radioactive Boy Scout”. Good reading, especially if you’ve got the science background to follow it.
Report Post »pavepaws
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 7:07pmStill laughing……….
Report Post »The Third Archon
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 4:27pmLol, Sweden. There’s a reason why nuclear power plants cost so much money, time, and expertise–they aren’t easy to build, much less build safely. This man probably never could have possibly succeeded in a self-sustaining (critical) nuclear reaction, but HAD he succeeded there would have only been one result–a mushroom cloud.
Report Post »Arminius23
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 5:16pmMaybe not a mushroom cloud but I assure you he would have PO’d his local homeowner association.
Report Post »Sheepdog911
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 5:20pmDidn’t an Australian man split an atom in his shed using a chisel in Young Einstein? That only lead to suds in beer, so what’s the harm? When this guy decides to sell his story, maybe Yahoo Serious will come out of movie retirement.
Report Post »teamarcheson
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 8:24pmNot true. Only highly enriched quantities will explode. Small quantities will fission and generate a lot of heat, enough to boil water and make steam. A few grams of each element could be used to make a small generator. Space probes use miniature atomic generators to power the space probe for long duration missions.
Report Post »OhioRifleman
Posted on August 5, 2011 at 1:07pm@ team Archeson
Actually, to make fissile material explode (ergo, mushroom cloud blast), the Uranium has to be dense-packed into a small area (usually done by explosive implosion) at the same time a neutron source is shot into the center of the fissile material. Without the dense-pack, you won’t get a wildcat chain reaction, at worst it’ll just heat up to the point that it melts through your containment.
Still and all, I look at this story and I think ‘Darwin Award Candidate’. Or at least honorable mention.
‘Nuff said.
Report Post »yanki161
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 4:02pmFirst, where the hell did he get uranium? Wherever, uranium will now come with warning labels “Kids: Don’t try this at home.”
Report Post »Son_of_Liberty
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 3:16pmIt‘s a good thing this didn’t happen here. Could you just imagine the new “kitchen regulations” the DHS would set up?
3%
Report Post »Rightsofman
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 3:31pmOh Great! Another “Islamic Bomb” in the making.
Report Post »ValiantDefender
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 4:04pmNot quite. Americium is found in either smoke alarms ro Carbon monoxide detectors…don’t remember which. A boy scout in the US tried this a few years back with similar results.
Report Post »Cold War Vet
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 3:11pmTo split the atoms, I’d recommend a really, really fine-tipped chisel! Just joking…
Report Post »Cold War Vet
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 3:10pmAw hell. Get yourself a 33 gallon plastic trash can, some PVC tubing, a garden hose and some uranium. Build a reactor in your back yard…
This guy is a fruitcake. He obviously had no idea of the logistics involved. I was in the Navy, (CGN nuke cruiser) so I have at least an extremely basic understanding of the science.
Nice funny story to start off the day!
Report Post »skeeeepy
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 9:03pmCold War Vet, which one were you on? My brother was on the Virginia back in the early to mid-80′s.
Report Post »BTW, thank you for your service.
Captain Crunch
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 2:40pmHave to admire his dedication to what he loves.
Report Post »capitalismrocks
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 2:27pmMeanwhile terrorists are trying to do the same thing and their “hobby” is to kill as many people as possible —- Mr. Wizard is rolling in his grave!!!!
Report Post »rose-ellen
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 5:22pmTime to profile those swedish granmothers in wheelchairs![and their diapered grandchildren too!
Report Post »Cold War Vet
Posted on August 5, 2011 at 2:11amMy suggestion:
If you see a burqa or a hijab, PROFILE IT.
Report Post »pap pap
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 2:23pmIt‘s a good thing he wasn’t into brain surgery as a hobby at home. Just think a do it yourself labotomy.
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