And here I was thinking the article would be about a fission reactor! Much tougher DIY project. Heavy water or graphite pile would be your best bet. That way

And here I was thinking the article would be about a fission reactor! Much tougher DIY project. Heavy water or graphite pile would be your best bet. That way you can use natural uranium from your back yard. The article mentions uranium as if it's hard to get. You can still fission U-238. It's just tougher.