Those Boy Scouts...Always Building Nuclear Reactors
(Posted by adam)
Now 17, David hit on the idea of building a model breeder reactor, a nuclear reactor that not only generates electricity, but also produces new fuel. His model would use the actual radioactive elements and produce real reactions. His blueprint was a schematic in one of his father's textbooks.From "TALE OF THE RADIOACTIVE BOY SCOUT," found via a comment by Tom Holsinger on the Radiation Surveillance thread on Volokh Conspiracy. It turns out that the article has been turned into a book (The Radioactive Boy Scout). Picture from this site.Ignoring safety, David mixed his radium and americium with beryllium and aluminum, all of which he wrapped in aluminum foil, forming a makeshift reactor core. He surrounded this radioactive ball with a blanket of small foil-wrapped cubes of thorium ash and uranium powder, tenuously held together with duct tape.
Bookmark this post: Posted by adam on December 27, 2005 at 10:27 AM
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Meanwhile, for anyone who thinks that the University of Chicago is "where fun goes to die", consider this guy, who among other notable accomplishments, built a breeder reactor as part of the UofC scavenger hunt.
Posted by: Chris Walsh | December 27, 2005 12:38 PM
This assembly is being described as a reactor - but that sounds wrong to me. It won't be a reactor unless it can get a self-sustaining chain reaction and that won't happen without at least one of: a) enriched uranium b) heavy water c) tons of fuel.
Posted by: Anonymous | December 29, 2005 10:25 AM