Another radioactive Boy Scout

My old employers, mental_floss magazine, have a new editor and some cool new stories out in their September/October issue. One is about a kid who built a nuclear reactor at age 14. No, not that kid. Meet Taylor Wilson, a kid who shares some hobbies with the more-famous "Radioactive Boy Scout" David Hahn, but with, apparently so far, less tragic results. (It helps that Wilson, unlike Hahn, discussed his plans with adults who helped set him up with the right safety environment to build his reactor in.) Another difference: Wilson's interests lie with fusion, not fission.

By the time Wilson stumbled across Fusor.net, 30 hobbyists worldwide had managed to produce the reaction; Wilson was determined to become the thirty-first. He started amassing the necessary components, such as a high-voltage power supply (used to run neon signs), a reaction chamber where fusion takes place (typically a hollow stainless steel sphere, like a flagpole ornament), and a vacuum pump to remove air particles from the chamber (often necessary for testing space equipment).

Wilson also funneled money collected from Christmases and birthdays toward buying radioactive items, many of which, to his surprise, were available around town. Smoke detectors, he learned, contain small amounts of a radio-active element called americium, while camping lanterns contain thorium. In antique stores, he found pottery called Fiestaware that was painted with an orange uranium glaze. Wilson trolled websites such as eBay for an array of nuclear paraphernalia, from radon sniffers to nuclear fuel pellets, and came to own more than 30 Geiger counters of varying strengths and abilities. Most of Wilson’s radioactive acquisitions weren’t dangerous, given their small quantities. But a few—vials of powdered radium, for example—could be fatal if mishandled, which is why he’s never opened them. (Although he’s been tempted.)

There's a longer preview of the story online. The rest is in the new print issue.

Image: Radiation Suit Minifigure, a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike (2.0) image from n8kowald's photostream

• [Matthew Elmslie]

  This is the kid from that book Science Fair Season, right? That’s a good book; people here should like that book.

• [Lobster]

  To be fair, Hahn was kind of dumb about it.  He took no precautions whatsoever (which is why he ended up with those nice radiation burns).

• [Vadym Zakrevskyy]

  My. Hero.

• [Jim Nelson]

  Damn – I wonder if he’s going to be at the Teslathon in October put on by another fusor.net member here in Richmond, VA.

  That neutron detector is actually pretty awesome – He3 detectors have become rarer than hen’s teeth (and priced similarly), and to have a cheap neutron detector, made out of commonly available components, invented and patented by a teenager, is one of the greatest science success stories I’ve ever heard of. Hats off to Mr. Wilson!

• [bcsizemo]

  I don’t think my wife should read this…  She’d skin him alive if he damaged pre-1944 vintage red Fiestaware….

• [Teirhan]

  This is a pretty cool article.  Makes me wish i had a subscription to mental_floss so i could read the whole thing. 

• [Brent Kirkham]

  Give that kid a Nobel Prize, and a DeLorean car. Now! Dammit!

• [John Aspinall]

  If he’s collecting americium, thorium, radium, and uranium, his interests don’t only lie with fusion.

  • [Lobster]

    I’m not too worried.  He’s using Americium, the most patriotic of the radioactive elements!

• [jhertzli]

  The spirit of the little red schoolhouse is back!

• [Khachatur Gharibyan]

  And where is the mutants. Not good!