The first nuclear reactor was build in the late 30ies and tested during the fag end days of the 2nd world war. So as on this day nuclear technology is 70 years old. Everybody who had science in high school would have learned chapters after chapters about fission, nuclear reactors, hydrogen bomb, cyclotron etc. The technology is very old, high school students have access to the basic principals… what is stopping them from making one?
In fact I recently came across a book where a high school kid from Michigan actually made a rudimentary nuclear reactor in his own backyard. Scary isn’t it?
Well when will politicians and statesmen realize that you do not need a multi-billion dollar facility and government sponsorship do achieve these feats?
Suppose a bunch of kids from Iran create a mushroom cloud for New year/Ramzaan/ 4th July/ Deepawali etc. What should the government do? Should they hail them as heroes or do damage control and banish them from the country?
Even though no body was harmed should they be treated as scientists or as fellow anarchists?
Even though the government has no role to play would the UN/USA put trade sanctions/embargo on countries like Iran?
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How would UN/USA and nuclear power react :
1) Trade Embargo: Members of such household are hereby forbidden from exporting/importing goods and services directly from other nations.
2) Sanctions: Members of such household are debarred from all government aid programs. They can no longer get free food grains under PDS (Public distribution system), they will not get subsidized education and Medicare.
3) Weapons inspection: Officers will repeatedly knock at your door, strip search you just to make sure you do not capabilities to manufacture WMD
4) What if you do not cooperate: They will bomb you to Stone Age, and then try the head of the household to causing the misery to the rest of the family. Finally the report will conclude that no WMD was found.
3 replies on “Radioactive Boy Scout”
You know, there is a conspiracy theory that the nuclear bombs never went off in Japan – no one has a bomb, it is all politics. You can’t make one either !
i do not know about that conspiracy theory… but what i was pointing out that a bunch of novice without any training or backing of governments can develop WMD. unfortunately the world today cannot imagine this.
The guy in this book actually managed to make a nuclear reactor.
[…] would ask the same question that I did in 2006. What would you do with an individual who has created a technology in an […]