The nuclear reactor
The reactor that David decided to build in his mother’s backyard was a so-called Breeder reactor. This is a nuclear reactor that is used in a nuclear power plant to produce fuel or energy from radioactive material. Such a reactor continues to produce fuel for itself in an endless, self-sustaining cycle.
These types of reactors are often criticized in the scientific world because they are more prone to accidents than normal nuclear power plants. The chemical element plutonium is also produced in a breeder reactor, which can be used directly for the production of nuclear weapons. So it doesn’t sound like the perfect nuclear reactor to build in a shed.
Still, David got to work…