14 DAY TRIAL // A Swedish man was arrested by police after calling authorities to ask if he was breaking any laws by constructing a nuclear reactor in his own kitchen. The man had posted videos on the Internet about his endeavor, but authorities only became involved after he called them directly.
According to The Local newspaper, the 31-year-old man was arrested in Ängelholm, western Sweden. He is known to the public only as Richard, as stated in his blog. The man kept a close account of his project on the Internet, where details about his endeavor were being posted regularly.
He disclosed all data pertaining to the experiment frankly and directly, and officials from the local police and the Swedish Radiation Authority say that he was very cooperative and upfront with the investigation, since it was clear that he had no intention of harming anyone.
Richard confessed to buying radioactive materials from overseas, and to procuring some much-needed chemicals from fire sensors that were readily available to him. The man used his kitchen as a staging area for working with the dangerous compounds.
He testified in a hearing that he became fascinated with physics as a teenagers, hence his skills in maneuvering the radioactive chemicals. The 31-year-old was the one who called the SRA to inquire as to the legality of building a nuclear reactor at home.
“Wednesday, I was arrested and sent to jail, when the police and the Swedish Radiation Safety Authory (sic!) searched my apartment. They took all my radioactive stuff, but I was released after a hearing. But I am still suspekt (sic!) for crime against the radiation safety law,” Richard writes on his blog.
“I was ordered by the police to get out of the building with my hands up, then three men came, with geiger-counters and searched me. Then I was placed in a police-car, when Radiation Safety Authory (sic!) went into my apartment with very advanced measure-tools,” he adds.
In an interview with reporters from local newspaper Helsingborgs Dagblad, Richard said that he used Geiger counters himself to track radiation levels around his kitchen, so as to ensure nothing was wrong.
He also told the newspaper that while producing the reactor was relatively easy, costing him only around $950, getting it to produce electricity would have most likely been nearly impossible.
“To get it to generate electricity you would need a turbine and a generator and that is very difficult to build yourself,” he explained.
At this time, the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority is most likely pondering whether to hire or sue Richard.