david hahn: the radioactive boy scout : pic of the funk face

im sure not many people know this name but might remember the book. i read the book about his story a long time ago but some thread that was just posted about a nuke going off got me thinking about it..

the book is called the radioactive boy scout....its an easy, yet very cool read.

basically, this kid david hahn was attempting to build a breeder reactor in his mothers shed...while it didnt reach critical mass, he certainly made progress that at least i wouldnt think a teen would be capable of

for those that dont know, a breeder reactor produces more material than it consumes....

en.wikipedia.org...

A Scout in the Boy Scouts of America, Hahn conducted his experiments in secret in a backyard shed at his mother's house in Commerce Township, Michigan

Hahn diligently amassed this radioactive material by collecting small amounts from household products, such as americium from smoke detectors, thorium from camping lantern mantles, radium from clocks and tritium (a neutron moderator) from gunsights. His "reactor" was a bored-out block of lead, and he used lithium from $1,000 worth of purchased batteries to purify the thorium ash using a Bunsen burner

Hahn ultimately hoped to create a breeder reactor, using low-level isotopes to transform samples of thorium and uranium into fissionable isotopes

Although his homemade reactor never came anywhere near reaching critical mass, it ended up emitting dangerous levels of radioactivity, likely well over 1,000 times normal background radiation

However, his mother, fearful that she would lose her house if the full extent of the radiation were known, collected the majority of the radioactive material and threw it away in the conventional garbage, which officials did not know. Hahn refused medical evaluation for radiation exposure
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i didnt follow him after i read the book and have not thought about him in years....apparently though, he's messed up from exposure.

its believed he exceeded the lifetime does of thorium yet he refused to be examined at the fermi generating station.

it also says in 07 he was arrested. he was trying to collect americium from smoke detectors....thats a radioactive substance so i wonder what his plan was.
his mug shot shows sores all over his face which is apparently from over exposure

a reply to: Grovit

The trouble with radiation is that aside from any potentially lethal effects it has on the body, is that prolonged exposure to certain isotopes, if it does not outright kill, can cause a syndrome called Chronic Radiation Syndrome. This is a different, and much rarer complaint than the more familiar Acute Radiation Syndrome, simply because it is extremely rare for someone to come into prolonged enough contact with weak enough radioactive material to give them symptoms, without killing them . The acute form of the syndrome was famously suffered by survivors of the nuclear assaults on Japan for example.

Chronic Radiation Syndrome has many similar symptoms to the acute form, but the main points of divergence are that ARS occurs when the body has received radiation damage at a rate which is so fast, that the body has had no opportunity to recover, that no internal repairs could be made by the bodies own regenerative systems, and that it occurs as a result of massive and rapid exposure. CRS is caused by much longer exposure, to much lower level radiation, and crucially, the body has a chance to repair at least some of the damage caused to it by the radiation, which means that the resulting damage will be debilitating rather than unrelentingly and rapidly fatal.

The chances are that once Mr Hahn had been exposed to a certain degree, his cognition was permanently effected by the radiation exposure, which has caused him to continue to seek out these radioactive isotopes since the dismantling of his reactor, despite the obvious danger of possessing them and being in proximity to them without the appropriate protections. Cognitive impairment occurs after a certain amount of exposure, over a certain amount of time. The dose, and the amount of time it was delivered for, not to mention whether or not medical assistance is sought, determines whether or not that impairment will be necessarily permanent.

Since Hahn had repeatedly refused medical examination nearer to the time of the majority of his exposure, it is likely that he has indeed suffered permanent cognitive impairment as a result of that exposure. It may also explain his apparent desire to continue to expose himself to radiation, since that is the sort of thing one would only ever decide to do, if indeed one had first completely and utterly lost the plot, gone off the reservation, lost his marbles, and variously gone completely bonkers.


Mr Hahns physical condition ought to be studied closely by disaster management organisations if you ask me. He is one of very few people to receive the right dosage of radiation to get Chronic Radiation Syndrome, and his current condition might prove interesting to anyone whose field of interest relates to the potential problems of surviving the aftermath of a nation wide, or globally effective nuclear event.

I find his case fascinating, and I would love to pick the brains of doctors working on him at the moment, from both the psychological, and neurological fields. The physiological damage to his body in general is probably quite extensive, as we can clearly see that the fellow has a fairly pronounced skin condition, and that probably does not even come close to indicating the extent of the damage within his body.

originally posted by: TrueBrit

Mr Hahns physical condition ought to be studied closely by disaster management organisations if you ask me. He is one of very few people to receive the right dosage of radiation to get Chronic Radiation Syndrome, and his current condition might prove interesting to anyone whose field of interest relates to the potential problems of surviving the aftermath of a nation wide, or globally effective nuclear event.

i agree.
he has refused treatment...
can they force him?
should they?

a reply to: Grovit

I have no idea whether medical treatment can be rendered without permission from the patient, in the event that it can be proved that the patient is not in possession of their faculties. Proving that the individual in question has lost their marbles however, would be necessary to even be in with a half of a shot at getting the idea past a judge.

It does however, depend on the law in the state where Hahn is incarcerated. That is something I am not familiar with in the least.

a reply to: TrueBrit

pretty sure its michigan

i dont understand why no charges were filed against him or the mother

i would think building or attempting to build a reactor is a crime.
and the mother....afraid she is going to lose her house so she throws radioactive material away in the regular garbage

a reply to: Grovit

Having done some further digging, I can confirm a reason why he might not have been convicted of an offence regarding his previous nuclear adventures. He was basically offered a conviction, or military service after his father advocated on his behalf to the judge. He chose military service, and wound up in the US Marine Corps. It was during his service that he was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, and honourably discharged as a result.


As for his mother, I have no idea. It is possible that her method of dealing with the radioactive material was not public knowledge until after her suicide.

a reply to: TrueBrit

both make sense.
i read that he went into the navy..on a nuke sub right?

i didnt know the offer was charges or the navy...

i didnt know they still did that...

was a pretty common thing back in the day....

it is a cool story..at least to us