[Phys-L] Re: Stories from Harpers: Radioactive Boyscout

[Hugh Haskell <hhaskell@MINDSPRING.COM>]

At 22:25  -0600 1/26/06, Brian Whatcott wrote:
> A salutary story of an Atomic merit badge, and where it led....
>
>    <http://www.dangerouslaboratories.org/radscout.html>
This story is also out in book-length, by the same author, Ken
Silverstein. (The Radioactive Boy Scout: The True Story of a Boy and
His Backyard Nuclear Reactor, Random House, 2004). Have the book,
haven't read it yet (too many others ahead of it in line), but have
read several of the articles, and heard a profile of the case on NPR
about when Silverstein's book first came out.

What is really funny is the reaction of the gov't when they found out
about it, and then their embarrassment when they found out how easy
it was for an innocent kid to accumulate a significant amount of
radioactive material by doing such simple things as buying up old
radium-dial clocks and watches at yard sales and flea markets.

And we think we are really keeping terrorists from getting
radioactive material. Hah!

Hugh
--

Hugh Haskell
<mailto:haskell@ncssm.edu>
<mailto:hhaskell@mindspring.com>

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