Friday, April 11, 2014

[sxbwxpsz] Non-Oklo natural reactor

Speculate that natural nuclear reactors existed at sites other than the famous Oklo site, but upon going critical, they quickly destroyed themselves never to restart again.  The concentration of U-235 was even greater even earlier in earth's history.  What geological evidence would remain of these brief natural criticality excursions?

The inspiration was the idea that the Oklo site provides evidence that buried nuclear waste does not move very far even over a billion years, providing support for modern burial proposals.  However, that argument could be false if the rare conditions that kept things in place also allowed the reactor to operate.  There could be many other sites where containment failed, scattering waste so far and wide that geologists can no longer find it.

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