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I wonder if there's any version of that which is legal (and feasible?) for a civilian to build and use.
by generalizations 6y ago
I wonder if there's any version of that which is legal (and feasible?) for a civilian to build and use.
- notJim 6y agoI found some speculation that you might be able to build one out of thorium from smoke detectors and lanterns, as in the David Hahn case, but not much. No way this would be legal though.
- InspiredIdiot 6y agoI've never heard of thorium being used in smoke detectors. As far as I know it is always Americium, including in David Hahn's case. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americium-241 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americium-241
- cozzyd 6y agowell you'll very slowly get some thorium in the decay chain :)
- at_a_remove 6y agoThe thorium is in the gas mantles.
- cozzyd 6y agoWell, for the application I was looking into this for (remote deployments in Greenland and Antarctica) it would be almost certainly politically impossible, so did not pursue, but I doubt it's possible to purchase Sr-90 in non-negligible quantities as a civilian (you can purchase it as a calibration source easily enough, I think, but at great expense).
- ryan_j_naughton 6y ago20 years ago, UChicago Scav Hunt had an item on the list: "Item 240. A breeder reactor built in a shed, and the boy scout badge to prove credit was given where boy scout credit was due. [500 points]" The story of how the Students made it is pretty great! https://mag.uchicago.edu/science-medicine/homemade-breeder-reactor https://mag.uchicago.edu/science-medicine/homemade-breeder-r...