How I Built a Nuclear Reactor at the Age of 13: Jamie Edwards at TEDxCERN (Full Transcript)

Jamie Edwards

Jamie Edwards – TRANSCRIPT

Nuclear power. I guess this is what most people think of when it comes to nuclear power.

Well, for me, this is what I think of; or more specifically, this. But before I tell you about that, let me tell you how all this started. Even as a young kid, I was always asking questions. Questions to my mom, my dad, my teachers, but eventually, they weren’t able to answer my questions anymore. So, I turned to the Internet to find some answers.

It was on the Internet that I came across this guy, Taylor Wilson, who’d created nuclear fusion at 14. I was like, “Wow! Fusion! In the back garden!” I had to find out more. So, while searching online, I came across fusornet, a group of amateur scientists who were building these Farnsworth fusors. It was there that I worked out that it was actually possible for me to build one of these.

I figured it’d cost around 2,000 pounds. Slight problem, I didn’t have 2,000 pounds. I was going to have to raise the money myself, so I started writing to some local nuclear labs, big engineering companies, universities. But you know what? For some reason, they didn’t want to give 2,000 pounds to a 13-year-old trying to build a nuclear reactor. No idea why.