Kitchen nuclear reactor a no-no. Who knew?
A man did nuclear experiments at home. “But they took all my stuff, so now I'm done," he said of authorities who checked on him.
August 3rd, 2011
01:46 PM ET

Kitchen nuclear reactor a no-no. Who knew?

Note to self: When building a nuclear reactor in the kitchen, don't ask nuclear regulatory authorities for advice.

A 31-year-old man in Angelholm, Sweden, was detained after police learned he was trying to build a device to split atoms in his apartment, the news site The Local reported. He was later released.

The man had mail-ordered radioactive waste from overseas and had procured some on his own by dismantling home smoke detectors, according to an interview in the local Helsingborgs Dagblad newspaper.

Just to be on the safe side, the man decided to write to the Swedish Radiation Authority to make sure his hobby was legal, he told Helsingborgs Dagblad. Authorities there told him they would send someone out to measure radiation levels in the kitchen.

"When they came, they had the police with them," he told the newspaper.

"I have a Geiger counter and had not noticed any problems with radiation," he said.

The man said he sank $5,000 to $6,000 into an experiment that never got off the ground.

"I never got it going," he told the paper. "I had just bought what was needed, so I don't know (if it would have worked). It's probably pretty hard to get it to work. But they took all my stuff, so now I'm done."

A researcher for the radiation authority said the home-built reactor would not have worked.

"He could not cause any harm with what he had," Leif Moberg told the newspaper.

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Filed under: Crime • Energy • Nuclear • Sweden
soundoff (31 Responses)
  1. fernace

    First a christian extremist nutcan in Norway, now a nuclear-device- building crazyass in Sweden! What is going on in my former part of the world!? Too much herring??

    August 3, 2011 at 5:24 pm | Report abuse |
  2. Fossil

    Not the herring: too many onions.

    August 3, 2011 at 5:36 pm | Report abuse |
  3. HIKER

    @ Mary... Yes baby, I'm here! what would you like to know? (heart beating) with anticipation of your reply!

    August 3, 2011 at 6:33 pm | Report abuse |
  4. Tralgit

    Well the winters are long up there so a hobby is a nice thing to have.

    August 3, 2011 at 7:59 pm | Report abuse |
  5. bill sease

    just in case ; he's toast

    August 3, 2011 at 8:48 pm | Report abuse |
  6. bill sease

    see ya in eight to ten

    August 3, 2011 at 8:49 pm | Report abuse |
  7. raven

    Hey I was just thinkin I needed ta split some atoms cuz my cold fusion recipe just went haywire. Double wierd .

    August 3, 2011 at 11:13 pm | Report abuse |
  8. smellyfeet

    wonder if he told his neighbors what he was doing, especaily the ones with kids...

    August 4, 2011 at 12:25 pm | Report abuse |
  9. raven

    @smellyfeet, He prolly said somethin like.. I build model trains so if you smell somethin funny or hear wierd noises...

    August 4, 2011 at 12:37 pm | Report abuse |
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