In this "Report", Ken Silverstein relates the case of David Hahn (apparently not related to Otto) whose quest for an Atomic Energy merit badge escalated into an attempt to build a working model of a breeder reactor. According to Mr. Silverstein, this suburban Detroit teenager was able to acquire enough radioactive material to create a device whose growing (!) radioactivity was detectable "five doors away" with a homemade Geiger counter and to turn his neighborhood into a mini-Superfund site. Silverstein says that Hahn did his project combining aluminium and beryllium foil with (1) Americium-241 from a hundred or so smoke detectors (2) a "quarter trunkload" of pitchblende (sic) from the shores of Lake Huron (3) a few samples of "black ore" - either pitchblende or uranium dioxide (4) thorium-232 extracted from "thousands" of gas lantern mantles (5) a vial of radium paint used for clock dials (6) tritium extracted from several "glow-in-the-dark" gun and bow sights. I am very skeptical of this account. What do you think?