Khan, David

For years, David Khan set up various chemical experiments in the basement of his house. His experiments often ended in small explosions and other incidents. The Golden Book of Chemical Experiments became a handbook for young Khan, he tried to get all the elements from the periodic table, including radioactive samples.

Khan carefully collected radioactive materials, extracting them in small quantities from various household appliances. For example, he extracted americium from smoke detectors , radium from watches with luminescent hands and luminescent paint; used alkali metals to restore thorium , contained in the form of dioxide in the ashes of used glowing nets of tourist lanterns, using the method of metallothermy . He also asked his friend to steal beryllium for him from the chemical laboratory ^{[1] [2] [3]} .

Khan posed as an adult scientist or school physics teacher in order to earn the trust of specialists with whom he successfully corresponded, despite obvious errors in the letters. Those told him some basics about how to achieve a nuclear chain reaction. The boy decided to use this knowledge to build a "reactor".

David mixed radium and americium, which were in his hands with beryllium and aluminum. The mixture was wrapped in aluminum foil , from which he tried to make a semblance of the core of a nuclear reactor. The radioactive ball was surrounded by small cubes of thorium ash and uranium powder, wrapped in foil and tied together with plumbing tape.

Although his home-made “reactor”, of course, could not reach a critical state, he was a weak neutron source with an increased level of ionizing radiation , which was about 1000 times higher than the usual background indicators for this area. Frightened by the readings of the Geiger counter (although they were generally harmless to health, in contrast to contact with radioactive substances and inhalation of their aerosols and particles, which the young man committed), Khan decided to end his experiments by “recycling” all the components of his reactor in the forest. To avoid unnecessary questions, he decided to load dangerous goods in the dead of night on August 31, 1995, which attracted the attention of the police. In the end, it all ended with the intervention of the FBI and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission . David's shed was dismantled and taken out in 39 barrels, which were buried in a burial ground for low-level radioactive waste in Utah; the surrounding area near the barn was not affected. To reimburse the expenses, the parents of the young men were fined $ 60,000 , which completely ruined their relationship with their son.

Khan refused a medical examination for the effect of radiation on his health, which he was offered to undergo at a nearby nuclear power plant . When asked by the journalist about the dose of radiation he received, he said: “I think that I took no more than five years of my life” ^{[1] [2] [4] [5]} .

Albert Gyorso , a well-known experimental scientist in the field of nuclear physics , having analyzed the experiments of Khan, wrote in his article that David, in his misfortune, had no one to turn to to refute his ideas. Moving in the right direction, a talented guy would probably be on his way to a more realistic career as a scientist. The physicist believes that the guy was aware of the deep incorrectness of his actions, but at the same time he misinterpreted the essence of what was happening, believing that his dream of a reactor model would come true. In reality, all that he created was a moderate radiation hazard ^[6] .

After the incident with an attempt at "nuclear research," Khan fell into deep depression, which intensified under the influence of peer ridicule and a wary attitude of adults. He believed that the years of his “work” were dumped in a landfill. Parents forced David to go to college, but he practically did not attend him, spent more time riding a motorcycle. In the end, he was expelled, after which, under pressure from his parents, David enlisted in the US Army . His place of service was the USS Enterprise nuclear carrier, and later he was transferred to the Marine Corps .

In 2007, David Khan was discharged and immediately came under the scrutiny of the FBI in connection with his youthful antics. He was soon arrested for theft of a smoke detector; another 15 of them were found in his apartment. The guy was suspected that he was going to continue his "experiments". Khan received 90 days in prison, during which doctors had to examine him for an obsession that had haunted him since 1994. He died on September 27, 2016, his father believes that the cause of death was alcohol poisoning. ^{[7] [8] [9] [10]}

• Ken Silverstein . The radioactive boy scout: The True Story of a Boy and His Backyard Nuclear Reactor. - Random House, 2004 .-- 240 p. - ISBN 037550351X .