A 17-year-old Eagle Scout in Michigan built a homemade neutron source in his backyard shed after teaching himself nuclear physics. David Hahn collected radioactive materials from household items—americium from smoke detectors, thorium from lantern mantles, and radium from antique clocks—and his experiments triggered a federal Superfund cleanup.
The Teen Who Built a Nuclear Device in His Backyard
In the quiet suburb of Commerce Township, Michigan, a potting shed became ground zero for one of the strangest DIY projects in American history. Inside, a 17-year-old Eagle Scout named David Hahn was attempting to build a nuclear breeder reactor.
He almost pulled it off.
An Obsession Takes Root
David's fascination with chemistry started at age 10, when his grandfather gave him The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments. By 12, he'd devoured his father's college chemistry textbooks. By 14, he'd synthesized nitroglycerin in his bedroom.
His parents eventually banished his experiments to the basement, then to an outdoor shed—a decision that would later require federal intervention.
Scavenging for Fission
In May 1991, David earned a Boy Scout merit badge in Atomic Energy. But reading about nuclear physics wasn't enough. He wanted to do it.
The problem: obtaining radioactive materials. His solution was disturbingly creative.
- Americium-241 — harvested from hundreds of smoke detectors
- Thorium-232 — extracted from camping lantern mantles
- Radium-226 — scraped from antique clock faces
- Tritium — removed from gun sights
- Lithium — purified from over $1,000 worth of batteries
He even wrote letters to nuclear officials, posing as a high school physics teacher to get technical guidance. One NRC official, Donald Erb, unknowingly became his mentor through correspondence.
The Neutron Gun
David's goal was a breeder reactor—a device that produces more fissile material than it consumes. He never achieved that. What he did create was a crude but functional neutron source, housed in a hollowed-out block of lead and wrapped in aluminum foil and duct tape.
It worked. Too well.
By 1994, his device was emitting radiation levels nearly 1,000 times normal background levels. Neighbors several houses away were being exposed without knowing it.
Discovery and Cleanup
The project unraveled at 2:40 a.m. on August 31, 1994. Police stopped David for a suspicious vehicle check and noticed strange equipment in his car. When David warned them the materials were radioactive, everything changed.
The FBI, EPA, and Nuclear Regulatory Commission descended on Commerce Township. David's stepmother's property was declared a Superfund hazardous materials site.
Workers in moon suits dismantled the potting shed with electric saws. Thirty-nine sealed barrels of radioactive waste were trucked to Utah's Great Salt Lake Desert for burial. The cleanup cost approximately $60,000.
Aftermath
David was never charged for his nuclear experiments—prosecutors struggled to find applicable laws, and officials feared publicity would inspire copycats. He later joined the Navy, hoping to work on nuclear submarines, but was assigned to a conventional vessel instead.
The story resurfaced in 1998 when Harper's Magazine published a feature on the "Radioactive Boy Scout." A 2004 book followed, and in 2007, David made headlines again when he was caught stealing smoke detectors from his apartment building—still hunting for americium.
David Hahn died in 2016 at age 39. His legacy remains a testament to what happens when teenage genius meets teenage recklessness—and a sobering reminder that radioactive materials are far more accessible than most people realize.