# The Radioactive Boy Scout **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 20, 2003, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boy-scout/202767 "2003-09-20T05:23:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cardenio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Cardenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardenio)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boy-scout/202767/1 "2003-09-20T05:23:44Z")
The story about " David Hahn the Boy Scout who Bulit a Breeder Reactor " that appeared in Harper’s in 99’ - Kieth Silverman I think was the reporter. I think this story total hooey. Can anyone confirm or deny this ?:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boy-scout/202767/2 "2003-09-20T11:15:54Z")
If [this](http://personal.cfw.com/~rollinso/RBS.html) URL is to be believed, both the Associated Press and the American Chemical Society reported on the original incident in 1995. ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boy-scout/202767/3 "2003-09-20T11:20:58Z")
[Here](http://groups.google.com/groups?q=%22The+Radioactive+Boy+Scout%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=YZBQ7.215866%243d2.9844461%40bgtnsc06-news.ops.worldnet.att.net&rnum=1) is said article. Click [here](http://groups.google.com/groups?q=%22The+Radioactive+Boy+Scout%22&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en) to review many conversations on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boy-scout/202767/4 "2003-09-20T11:27:46Z")
After reading that I have to say that it hardly sounds credible. Someone with more of a science backround is going to have to credit/debunk it. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boy-scout/202767/5 "2003-09-20T11:36:29Z")
Thread from **a couple of days ago** : [“Radioactive Boy Scout” story: fact or fiction?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=211768) ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boy-scout/202767/6 "2003-09-20T11:48:14Z")
A thread on the subject from another board: [http://www.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get\_topic;f=39;t=000242](http://www.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=39;t=000242) Which also has a link back to this board, courtesy of a former member (name). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cardenio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Cardenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardenio)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boy-scout/202767/7 "2003-09-20T20:22:29Z")
[http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/037550351X/103-3317872-8841437?v=glance](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/037550351X/103-3317872-8841437?v=glance) I guess this kid did try to do this and made a big raidoactive mess. Kid science gone way to far ! However the article implies that he was ’ getting somewhere ’ when in fact he was just making a mess. But, it wouldn’t be as exciting that way would it. ---
**Author:** ![robo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@robo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robo99)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boy-scout/202767/8 "2003-12-10T23:23:40Z")
I wonder if this David Hahn is related to Otto Hahn who worked on the atomic bomb… I believe I knew the father when I was a little kid and was friends with his younger brother - who kept piranhas in his fish tank. I wouldn’t have put it past my old friend to attempt to builder a nuclear reactor. ---
**Author:** ![KenGr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecc23a/32.png) [@KenGr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KenGr)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boy-scout/202767/9 "2003-12-11T03:47:59Z")
Having a nuclear engineering background and having read the available articles on this case, I will have to suggest you not take the conclusions of some of the articles too seriously. Apparently what this kid did was collect a lot of radioactive material which is commonly available and uncontrolled because there is so little of it and concentrate it. There is no way he ever built a “reactor” and apparently he understood that he couldn’t do that. He was trying to increase the reaction rate of certain nuclear processes by increasing the neutron flux. There is no clear evidence he actually succeeded at that. The articles all seem to contain some bogus science, perhaps the result of the reporters inaccuracy. Also, there is a bit of doubt about the statements that he has refused scans to determine his radioactive body burden yet he then joined the Navy serving on a nuclear powered ship. No way someone with a significant or undetermined internal contamination would be allowed to serve in the nuclear Navy. That said, there is no question that with the amount of radioactive material which exists naturally and is used in consumer, medical and industrial products, a hazardous radioactive source could be created. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boy-scout/202767/10 "2016-11-14T06:17:40Z")
Updating this thread David Hahn died at 39 years old: > **['Radioactive Boy Scout' Reportedly Passes Away At Age 39 - Slashdot](https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/16/11/14/0039257/radioactive-boy-scout-reportedly-passes-away-at-age-39)** > > A funeral notice quietly appeared on Tributes.com recently, announcing the death of David Charles Hahn. Though no cause of death was provided, when he was 17 Hahn "achieved some notoriety as a teenage Boy Scout with his attempt to build a nuclear... The question arises as to whether the radiation he was exposed to contributed to his death. Anyone find anything? ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boy-scout/202767/11 "2016-11-14T11:25:30Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Updating this thread David Hahn died at 39 years old: > ['Radioactive Boy Scout' Reportedly Passes Away At Age 39 - Slashdot](https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/16/11/14/0039257/radioactive-boy-scout-reportedly-passes-away-at-age-39) > > The question arises as to whether the radiation he was exposed to contributed to his death. Anyone find anything? Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > [Hahn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hahn) died on September 27, 2016, at the age of 39. At the time, he was a resident of Shelby Township, Michigan. No cause of death listed. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boy-scout/202767/12 "2016-11-14T11:30:56Z")
I suspect it’s more likely that his cavalier attitude toward risk in general contributed to his death. Anyone who will do the things he did will do other things just as ingeniously stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boy-scout/202767/13 "2016-11-14T11:44:31Z")
It seems to be a pretty sad story - debilitating psychiatric illness - which is never a good starter for a long life. But there is [pretty nasty picture](https://nicedeb.wordpress.com/2007/08/03/scary-mugshot-of-radioactive-boy-scout/) of him at age 31 with what for all the world looks like radiation induced skin damage all over his face. I suspect his family will prefer to quietly ignore prying into his death. But you would have to guess that there is a good chance it was related to his radioactive pursuits. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boy-scout/202767/14 "2016-11-14T17:20:19Z")
We had another thread about this a few years ago when he was arrested for stealing smoke detectors. It turned out that he had a string of arrests for drugs and that he was severely mentally ill. I think at one point he even showed up here and made some posts that were … disturbing. Very sad story made even worse by the fact that he has now died. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boy-scout/202767/15 "2016-11-14T18:11:55Z")
[A pretty good review of the “Radioactive Boy Scout”](http://pubs.acs.org/cen/books/8232/8232books.html), noting why Hahn’s ideas simply couldn’t work and why the shed was emitting radiation if it wasn’t really a reactor. Considering the author has helped discover 12 elements, I’ll take his word. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boy-scout/202767/16 "2016-11-14T18:45:21Z")
From my limited nuclear physics knowledge - For radioactive materials, the nuclei randomly spontaneously break up (decay) into two smaller ones, typically emitting a particle or several, typically neutrons. These neutrons can cause other nuclei to split if they hit them - depending on the particular element, since some nuclei are a lot more stable than others. Obviously, elements that are ready to split spontaneously are more susceptible to splitting when hit with a neutron. Also obviously, the bigger the lump of unstable material, the more likely a neutron will hit another unstable one before flying out of that lump off into the wild blue yonder and hitting a more stable nucleus. So collecting a decent amount of radioactive material means more neutrons and more chance they liberate even more neutrons above the default decay rate. This is a reactor - the “fuel” is itself feeding and increasing the reaction. Add beyond a critical mass, and the rate could suddenly skyrocket, which is what a bomb is. Considering that for _pure_ unstable uranium or plutonium, the critical mass is measured in kilograms; the odds that he could pull together even close to enough to create a mass that emitted radiation significantly above what the materials emit normally - very close to zero probability. However, even having a moderate amount of relatively dangerous reactive material around, and the possibility that traces could be carried away due to unsafe storage (dirt on shoes, dust, etc.) raises the risk that people could significantly increase their exposure. Plus a collection of several hundred times normal amount would be a dangerous radiation emitter regardless. Certainly this guy, while scraping flakes of radioactive material from various devices, probably inhaled way too much dust to be safe. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boy-scout/202767/17 "2016-11-14T19:29:37Z")
/hijack/ There’s a fictional work, Revenge of the Radioactive Lady, which includes a ‘Radioactive Boy Scout’ character. This does not really advance the discussion of the real case; the character is \*inspired \*by the true story and the fictional work isn’t really about him. However, I enjoyed the book, and those intrigued by the thought of radioactivity in the community might as well. > **[The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady: Stuckey-French, Elizabeth: 9781400034864:...](https://www.amazon.com/Revenge-Radioactive-Lady-Elizabeth-Stuckey-French/dp/1400034868)** > > The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady \[Stuckey-French, Elizabeth\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady /hijack complete/ ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boy-scout/202767/18 "2016-11-14T19:35:03Z")
I remember now what David Hahn’s user name here was – **weakbrainhuman34**. I think he started a thread here after we discussed him in another thread, but his thread was quickly deleted because he was obviously mentally ill. Quite unfortunate. My sympathy goes out to his family and friends. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boy-scout/202767/19 "2016-11-14T21:09:26Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > From my limited nuclear physics knowledge - > > For radioactive materials, the nuclei randomly spontaneously break up (decay) into two smaller ones, typically emitting a particle or several, typically neutrons. … No, neutron emission is not a form of natural radiation. Most unstable isotopes decay when a neutron in the nucleus transforms into a proton, emitting a high-energy electron or positron. And most instances of neutrons hitting a nucleus do not cause it to split, except perhaps in the case of alpha (He[sup]+[/sup]) radiation. “Splitting” the atom is a rather inaccurate description of nuclear fission, because [sup]239[/sup]Pu is _heavier_ than the uranium that begets it. The processes of radioactive decay are rather complicated, well beyond the scope of a limited understanding and even somewhat challenging, I suspect, for the people that do understand them. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boy-scout/202767/20 "2016-11-14T21:38:31Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > It seems to be a pretty sad story - debilitating psychiatric illness - which is never a good starter for a long life. But there is [pretty nasty picture](https://nicedeb.wordpress.com/2007/08/03/scary-mugshot-of-radioactive-boy-scout/) of him at age 31 with what for all the world looks like radiation induced skin damage all over his face. That looks an awful lot like a “face of meth” mugshot. I don’t think that’s radiation poisoning. Would 17 smoke detectors even provide enough radioactive material to cause skin to blister? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-radioactive-boy-scout/202767.md?page=2)