David Hahn | |
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| Born | David Charles Hahn October 30, 1976 Royal Oak, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | September 27, 2016 (aged 39) |
| Other names | Nuclear Boy Scout Radioactive Boy Scout |
| Known for | Building a neutron source in his mother's backyard |
David Charles Hahn (October 30, 1976 – September 27, 2016), sometimes called the "Radioactive Boy Scout" and the "Nuclear Boy Scout" was an American nuclear radiation enthusiast who built a homemade neutron source at the age of seventeen.
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's goal was to build and demonstrate a homemade breeder reactor. While he never managed to build a reactor, in August 1994, Hahn's progress attracted the attention of local police when they found concerning material in his vehicle during a stop for a separate matter. When Hahn warned them that the material was radioactive, the police contacted federal authorities, worried that he may have an atomic bomb. His mother's property was cleaned up by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ten months later as a Superfund cleanup site. Hahn attained Eagle Scout rank shortly after his lab was dismantled.[1]
While the incident was not widely publicized initially, it became better known following a 1998 Harper's Magazine article by journalist Ken Silverstein. Hahn was also the subject of Silverstein's 2004 book The Radioactive Boy Scout.[1] As an adult, Hahn served in the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. He was subsequently treated for mental illness, and his death at age 39 was related to drug and alcohol use.
- ^ a b Silverstein, Ken (2004). The Radioactive Boy Scout: The Frightening True Story of a Whiz Kid and His Homemade Nuclear Reactor. Villard. ISBN 978-0812966602.