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“A #ScienceNerd” who wanted to collect all the elements of the #PeriodicTable could face jail time after ordering #radioactive material over the #internet.

But Emmanuel Lidden, 24, will have to wait to learn his sentence after breaching nuclear non-proliferation laws by shipping samples of plutonium to his parents’ suburban Sydney apartment.

Lidden pleaded guilty to offences under #Australia’s #NuclearNonProliferation Act that carry a possible 10-year jail sentence, and is due to receive his sentence from the judge Leonie Flannery on 11 April.

The importation sparked a major hazmat alert, with Australian Border Force (#ABF) officials, #firefighters, #police and #paramedics all attending the scene in August 2023.

Far from there being any intention of building something nefarious like a nuclear weapon, Lidden’s lawyer John Sutton described his client as an “innocent collector” and “science nerd” who had been left flipping burgers after being sacked from his job because of the investigation.”

Smart but not well read.

Can anyone think where #Pu might be found on the ground in #Aus?

WRONG ANSWERS ONLY

#DumbWaysToDie <https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/21/emmanuel-lidden-sydney-science-nerd-importing-plutonium-ntwnfb>o