A webpage from the blog written by Richard Handl documenting his experiments to build a nuclear reactor in his kitchen in Angelholm
A webpage from the blog written by Richard Handl, documenting his experiments to build a nuclear reactor in his kitchen at his home in Angelholm, is pictured August 4, 2011. A man in southern Sweden who tried to build a nuclear reactor in his kitchen, failed in his experiment and was briefly detained by the police, Swedish newspaper Expressen reported on Thursday. Handl obtained the equipment and radioactive materials from foreign websites and documented the various stages of his experiments on his blog. The 31-year-old, who has no degree but had been interested in nuclear physics since his teenage years, told Expressen his aim had been to split an atom but he had never got that far. He said his experimenting came to an end when he contacted the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) to find out whether it was legal to build ones own nuclear reactor. As an answer to his question, police and personnel from the SSM conducted a search of his house and he was arrested on charges of unauthorised possession of nuclear material, but was later released. According to Expressen, experts from the SSM said Handl could not have built a nuclear reactor, adding there was never any danger to Handl himself or to neighbours since the amounts of radioactive material were not big enough but it was still more than a private person is allowed to possess. Reuters

A Swedish man was arrested after he tried to build a nuclear reactor in his kitchen and documented his efforts on the Internet, authorities and the man said Thursday.

Richard Handl, 31, from Angelholm in southern Sweden, gathered materials including smoke detectors, clock and watch hands and via purchases on the Internet.

"I was just curious to see if it was possible, it is just a hobby," said Handl, currently unemployed but previously a worker in a ventilation systems factory.

He documented his efforts on a blog and his Facebook page.

He got as far as mixing some ingredients on a cooker -- americum, radium, beryllium and 96 percent sulphuric acid.

"The boiling explosion was about 3 or 4 months ago and the police came two weeks ago," he said.

After the incident, which he tagged "The Meltdown" on his blog, he said he "cleaned up the mess on the cooker and then I bought some more radium and continued the experiment."

The Radiation Safety Authority said in a statement the authorities raided Handl's flat on July 20 after hearing that he was handling nuclear materials in an unsafe way.

"There were no raised levels of radiation in the apartment and the neighbors were not exposed to radiation," research chief Leif Moberg said in the statement.

Handl reported the raid laconically on his website, writing "Project canceled!"

He was detained and shortly after freed. "I am still a suspect for crime against the radiation safety law," he said.

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