The Radioactive Boy Scout

The Frightening True Story of a Whiz Kid and His Homemade Nuclear Reactor

By: Ken Silverstein

Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross

Growing up in suburban Detroit, David Hahn was fascinated by science. While he was working on his Atomic Energy badge for the Boy Scouts, David's obsessive attention turned to nuclear energy. Throwing caution to the wind, he plunged into a new project: building a model nuclear reactor in his backyard garden shed.

Posing as a physics professor, David solicited information on reactor design from the US government and from industry experts. Following blueprints he found in an outdated physics textbook, David cobbled together a crude device that threw off toxic levels of radiation. His wholly unsupervised project finally sparked an environmental emergency that put his town's 40 thousand suburbanites at risk. The EPA ended up burying his lab at a radioactive dumpsite in Utah. This offbeat account of ambition and, ultimately, hubris has the narrative energy of a first-rate thriller.

©2004 Ken Silverstein (P)2019 Tantor

great story, worth the listen!

I've had the paper back book for probably a couple decades, never finished it even though it's not that long so this was a great option. it's a hard one to find!

A bit biased

The author seems to have quite the bias against nuclear power, it might be due to how old the book is and a lack of information at the time. the story about David is very well put together and pleasant to read though and because of that a good 80% of the book is very enjoyable.

Interesting story

It takes a while to get used to the narrator pausing for a breath after literally every sentence but if you can get over that it’s a pretty good book. The story is amazing but the writer put a lot of work to build a climax that it never really reached.

Interesting read

The author’s stance on nuclear technologies is obvious through phrasing designed to hype fear and influence the reader. Must be listened to with that in mind.

What you would expect

A well-written account of David Hahn except for his death;--which still is under causation investigation. The assumption of David's death is from radioactive poisoning, but that hasn't been verified yet. The book tells an excellent inside story of what his life was like through the years—an excellent book to own.

Anti Nuclear

Author spent more time bashing Nuclear energy than telling the story. Some background is good but really steered away from the purpose of the book.