Yes, this is David Hahn, of Radioactive Boyscout fame, the boyscout who inspired this Harper’s Magazine article, about his attempt to build a nuclear reactor in his mother’s shed.
Well, twelve years later, it turns out he’s still into his hobby.
A Clinton Township man who gained notoriety a decade ago as the so-called “Radioactive Boy Scout” was accused Thursday of stealing numerous smoke detectors in an effort to develop a homemade nuclear reactor.
David Charles Hahn, 31, was being held on a $5,000 bond in the Macomb County Jail after he was arraigned in 41B District Court on charges of larceny from a building, a 4-year felony.
The local police, and the FBI had been keeping an eye on him ever since he had returned home from his stint in the Navy.
When police arrested Hahn on Wednesday evening, they evacuated the apartment building and called in a Michigan State Police bomb squad to conduct a search of the apartment because of Hahn’s background and the chemical items he was known to store in his residence.
They found 16 smoke detectors that allegedly had been stolen from buildings in the complex. The suspect apparently was trying to harvest tiny amounts of the radioactive isotope americium-241, a silvery-white metal found in the detectors. The chemical can cause cancerous tumors and damage internal organs.
There was no mention of what it can do to um…facial skin.
Found via:
UPDATE: (July 13):
Hi Reddit readers.
Yeahhhh, this post is OLD. It’s from almost a year ago. I have nooo idea why it’s listed at Reddit. Sorry for wasting your time.
The intent of the three men being held by police remains unclear, but the initial indication is that it did not appear to be terror-related. They have not been identified by police and no charges have been filed.
