Richard Handl, Swedish Man, Tried To Set Up Nuclear Reactor At Home

STOCKHOLM — A Swedish man who was arrested after trying to split atoms in his kitchen said Wednesday he was only doing it as a hobby.

Richard Handl told The Associated Press that he had the radioactive elements radium, americium and uranium in his apartment in southern Sweden when police showed up and arrested him on charges of unauthorized possession of nuclear material.

The 31-year-old Handl said he had tried for months to set up a nuclear reactor at home and kept a blog about his experiments, describing how he created a small meltdown on his stove.

Only later did he realize it might not be legal and sent a question to Sweden's Radiation Authority, which answered by sending the police.

"I have always been interested in physics and chemistry," Handl said, adding he just wanted to "see if it's possible to split atoms at home."

The police raid took place in late July, but police have refused to comment. If convicted, Handl could face fines or up to two years in prison.

Although he says police didn't detect dangerous levels of radiation in his apartment, he now acknowledges the project wasn't such a good idea.

"From now on, I will stick to the theory," he said.

Comments

[Greg Sureck]

11:50 AM on 08/06/2011

and Iran can't build a bomb

[Tim Haselden]

11:32 AM on 08/05/2011

While I admire his thirst for knowledge and pursuit of said. Would I be wrong in thinking , this is someone who a, has too much time on their hands & b, REALLY needs to get laid?

[Benjamin Rosenfeld]

09:45 AM on 08/05/2011

Here's his blog:

http://richardsreactor.blogspot.com/

[PoliticallyAffiliated]

05:45 AM on 08/05/2011

I find that too hard to believe that he was doing it for 'curiosity'. It takes a lot of knowledge and studying to get that far, so either he had good intentions or really bad ones - i.e. Norway-style...

[Jack Daniels Esq]

05:19 AM on 08/05/2011

There are a ton of closet kooks in snowbound Scandinavia - must be isolationism

[bryanzth]

07:30 PM on 08/04/2011

I split carrots in my kitchen. ;0) Just for the record.

BZ.

[SpaghettyIrish]

07:07 PM on 08/04/2011

This kind of thing is no joke. There was an American boy from Michigan who tried to set up a breeder reactor in his parents' backyard shed. He would drive around with a geiger counter mounted on his dash. He found Uranium out in nature with some effort. He got radium off antique clocks with 1st gen "glow in the dark" faces. Long story short, he created a small reactor, and irradiated half his neighborhood before the authorities came in took it all away.

[bryanzth]

07:32 PM on 08/04/2011

Wow. Interesting about the glow in the dark dials. Remember that Vonnegut described the Russians in the camp as having faces that resembled such clocks. My grannie worked in LaSalle-Peru, IL at a clock factory. Fortunately, she was NOT one of the women painting the radium on the arms and clock faces.

I was wondering just where one would get these rare elements. You answered part of the question. Good.

BZ.

[dennishastings]

08:58 PM on 08/04/2011

The women would get sick by licking the brushes to get a fine point on it.

[SpaghettyIrish]

09:41 PM on 08/04/2011

Check out a book titled "The Radioactive Boy Scout." for more info.

[mdinoregon]

04:08 PM on 08/05/2011

http://www.dangerouslaboratories.org/radscout.html

[eyelashviper]

06:51 PM on 08/04/2011

How was he splitting atoms in his kitchen? Those knives that saw through concrete? Did he get the uranium at Whole Foods? Many questions, can't wait for the Science Guy to splain all this.

[YankeeCanuck]

09:38 PM on 08/04/2011

I'm wondering about that "small meltdown" on the stove. I've done that, but not with radioactive materials--I just forget about the teakettle.

[mr e vader]

12:31 PM on 08/05/2011

Just make sure you buy the name-brand Uranium and not the generic stuff.

Ironically this is the one product where you WANT lead in the solder...

;-)

[C Bevens]

06:18 PM on 08/04/2011

Do It Yourself power generating nuclear reactor? I like his can-do spirit. But just how big is his appartment? Cooling pond in the bathtub? Great story for the grandkids.

[abuckley23]

04:13 PM on 08/04/2011

Seems safe...unless of course he succeeded.

[lensman3]

03:34 PM on 08/04/2011

Didn't Fermi and his cohorts do this at the University of Chicago beneath the Football stadium? They had a couple of tons of pure uranium and used graphite blocks as a moderator. Graphite was used in Chernobyl and once the graphic was ignited, it burned just like a back yard brickette barbecue.

[loki]

02:57 AM on 08/05/2011

that was back in the early 1900's and all they did when they were done was bury it. Its mostly still there. But they wont admit it now.

[OutAtFirst]

02:32 PM on 08/04/2011

Sorry to bother you on a Sunday afternoon, but could I borrow a cup of Uranium 235?

[schnauzergirl]

01:20 PM on 08/04/2011

"kept a blog about his experiments, describing how he created a small meltdown on his stove." though "he says police didn't detect dangerous levels of radiation in his apartment"

Google "Louis Slotin"

[BBrianCC]

12:11 PM on 08/04/2011

"911"

"operator, is this legal? just wondering"

"Um... yeah... sure it is!"

minutes later:

::knock knock:: "FBI OPEN UP!"

[ArthroughpadNY]

10:18 AM on 08/04/2011

Since the guy was arrested he has been plugged into the Swedish power supply for the next 50 years and they hope to get quite a few megawatts off his body.