This really speaks to a lack of infrastructure for people who are interested in scientific topics beyond the generalist level provided for in US schools. If there had been a legitimate and clear pipeline for him as a teenager to be mentored by a nuclear engineer, none of this would've happened.

I had a friend with similar proclivities and eccentricities who was fortunate enough to have a father that worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. His studies were directed and safe, he was able to visit the lab on a regular basis, and he ended up going to MIT and becoming a nuclear engineer. It's entirely an issue of access, and a lot of times you literally have to be born into it, which seems like an inefficient system.