Man Arrested For Splitting Atoms At Home

I have no problems with anybody having 'quirky' hobbies... but I don't think that I'd feel very comfortable if my neighbour was spending time trying to split atoms in his kitchen!


A Swedish man has been arrested for doing just that.

The 31-year old quasi-physicist, Richard Handl, has admitted to being in possession of the radioactive elements 'radium', 'americium' and 'uranium' at his home in southern Sweden.

Police charged him with 'unauthorised possession of nuclear material'.

Mr Handl said that he had been trying to set up a nuclear reactor in his apartment for months, and posted regular articles on his blog describing his activities. He claimed that at one time he actually created a 'small meltdown' on his stove.

I'm guessing that Mr Handl is not the brightest kid on the block - he was only discovered by authorities when he contacted Sweden's Radiation Authority to ask if what he was doing was illegal.

If found guilty, Mr Handl will face up to two years in jail.

He said of his ordeal, "I have always been interested in physics and chemistry... I just wanted to see if it's possible to split atoms at home... From now on, I will stick to the theory".