G ENERALLY speak- ing, I think do-it- yourself is a fine idea.

I’ve painted my share of walls, completed a fair number of home-repair projects and cut my own hair, all of which resulted in a smug sense of self-accomplishment and at least one of which also resulted in an emergency trip to Hair Cuttery.

I think if you want something done right–and if, like me, you’re too cheap to hire a professional to do it for you–you do it yourself.

In those cases, leave well enough alone. You’re asking for heartbreak.

Just ask Richard Handl of Sweden, who thought it would be fun to split atoms in his kitchen.

“My project is to build a working nuclear reactor. Not to gain electricity, just for fun and to see if it’s possible to split atoms at home,” he wrote on his blog on May 14.

A week later, he nonchalantly announced that he’d accidentally caused a nuclear meltdown in his kitchen by combining three radioactive elements in a manner to which they were not accustomed.

My favorite part about that post is the photo that accompanies it, showing a bottle of tropical fruit punch and a well-used ashtray right next to the blackened remains of his stovetop. Because the best place to store your food and lit cigarettes is next to your working model of Chernobyl.

Swedish environmental officials, likely distracted by a mind-bending Ikea construction project, didn’t get around to raiding Handl’s apartment until late July after the consummate do-it-yourselfer inquired whether it was OK for him to have nuclear material in his home.

The answer, delivered by heavily armed men in moon suits, was a resounding no, at which time Handl abruptly canceled his project.

While I applaud his pioneering spirit, I feel like the phrase “don’t try this at home” specifically applies to the kind of folks who might be tempted to store a Tupperware container full of uranium in the same pantry as their Cheetos.

Handl is by no means the only do-it-yourselfer who’s gotten carried away recently.

Last summer, a crew chief and a Sprint car driver in Washington thought it might be fun to make their own amusement park ride.