WI a natural atomic reactor existed?

[NapoleonXIV]

WI the natural atomic reactor that existed in Africa about 2 billion years ago existed now? I don't think that it's ASB that enough natural and pure U235 might come together somehow by itself, even now.

It doesn't have to be in Africa, but I do think that it would have to be in existence throughout at least recorded history and probably a whole lot longer. The idea being that it's coming together in recorded history is very unlikely given a million year or so lifetime.

Would it create a strange area of the Earth, where noone could go? Or would it just be dangerous, or maybe just strange?

Would it give mankind a leg up to understanding atomic energy hundreds or even thousands of years sooner? or maybe have the opposite effect and keep up worshipping the gods in the earth for millenia more?

[zoomar]

Uhh...What natural atomic reactor in Africa two billion years ago?

[fortyseven]

you want one today or sometime in history?

[chunkeymonkey13q]

Now that you mention it, I think there have been more natural nuclear reactors scattered across the world throughout history. Possibly there are even some still in existence now, although they’d have to be very isolated or have their radiation output masked in some way for us not to detect them. Most of the time, I would think that these natural reactors wouldn't contain pure weapons grade uranium, however, but maybe would have some U-235 in them in addition to the much more plentiful U-238.

As for their effect on us, for most of our pre-civilization years we would have probably just passed it by while migrating or hunting. We would have been irradiated in the process, however, and would have died later on from radiation poisoning. For a long time the cause of these deaths may have eluded us, but we may have eventually attributed it to the wrath of a vengeful god. Upon reaching this conclusion, we may have started avoiding that trail or route noticing how everyone that traveled along it became very sick and died. As for understanding and harnessing atomic energy, it’s very easy to build a nuclear reactor if you have no concern at all for human life. The Romans could have probably figured it out, using the heat produced to harness the energy of superheated water. Slaves would have probably tended the reactor and because they would die relatively quickly from their constant exposure to radiation, they’d be imported in waves. It would probably only be used for a few simple palace tricks due to this expense.

As for keeping us in the dark, if it was situated right in the middle of Europe and sprayed the continent with highly penetrating particles, than yes we may have been stuck in a rut for a long time. The dominant civilizations would have probably developed in the Orient or Meso-America instead of in Europe who would have conquered much of the world instead of the Europeans. History would have turned out very different in this case.

[David S Poepoe]

If its in deepest, darkest Africa no one is going to hear about it for centuries. Would Livingstone come across it on one of his walks about Africa? Would it be somewhere in the Belgian Congo, possibly elevating Belgium to Great Power status?

Reminds of Brian Stableford's Empire of Fear - at least it has the ghosts of its hallmarks.

[Doctor What]

Originally Posted by zoomar

Uhh...What natural atomic reactor in Africa two billion years ago?

This one
http://flatrock.org.nz/topics/money_...or_in_oklo.htm

http://www.curtin.edu.au/curtin/cent...ere/Where.html

http://www.npp.hu/tortenelem/foldreaktor-e.htm

Oh--and it's reactors---there was a total of 17 of them going at some point....

[David S Poepoe]

Because of the location of these natural reactors it appears that they would not have any impact until they were discovered. It also appears that for the most part we have discovered remnants. I get the impression from the articles I skimmed that these were relatively self-contained reactors and that any interruption in the water that permitted the chain reactions to occur would have shut down the reactor.

I don't see anyway that their existence would have helped or hindered or made a difference.

[jolo]

Afaik, they didn't produce very much heat - any geyser does more so. They also would not have been distinguishable from such vulcanic activity by early humans, until they can detect radioactivity. The radioactive levels also were probably pretty low, as the decay took place over long periods of time.

Even if someone finds out about it by accident - like filling a pool with such "stones" and finding it gets hot whenever it's filled with water - where will this person get more such "stones" after those are "used up". Also, the people close to this reactor will probably die early and the trick will be forgotten.

Even if not, if they realize after some time that they have to avoid too much contact with those stones, especially when "hot", and if this becomes a fad, that might just mean that all the easily found ressources of usable uranium will be used up early and then the technology will be forgotten and rediscovered much later.

[Jared]

Originally Posted by NapoleonXIV

WI the natural atomic reactor that existed in Africa about 2 billion years ago existed now? I don't think that it's ASB that enough natural and pure U235 might come together somehow by itself, even now.

Unfortunately, it is all but impossible now. U-235 decays much faster than U-238. Today, less than 1% of uranium is composed of U-235. Back 2 billion years ago, it was much higher. (I forget the exact percentages, but somewhere over 20%, maybe as much as a third). This extra concentration was what allowed the natural reactor to form. So it's very unlikely for such a reactor to form today.

[fortyseven]

Ya have to start with a lot more U-238 to have one today.

[Torqumada]

Some scientist think that the Earth's molten core is a large nuclear reactor.

Torqumada

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Torqumada

Some scientist think that the Earth's molten core is a large nuclear reactor.

Torqumada

That's highly unlikely. Despite being dense, Uranium bonds with light, stoney materials which rise up into the crust. The vast majority of Uranium is near the surface, as near as they can figure, not in the mantle or the core.

Of course, radioactive decay is the reason why the earth has stayed molten, but that's another thing entirely.

[wkwillis]

U235 (and all other elements other than helium and lithium) is formed during a supernova and spread out in a giant dust cloud. The dust cloud then collected with more hydrogen and made the solar system and eventually the earth.
If the collection of the dust cloud to make the earth was faster, and evolution on earth was also faster, then there would be more U235, K40, Mgwhatever and Vwhosis to make geothermal energy a lot more energetic, so think volcanos, lots and lots of volcanos. Lots more geothermal heat leaking out.
Oh, and they would have been making reactors all over the world because it would have been so cheap. We only need twice as much U235 to U238 and U234 to make a reactor just using graphite and uranium with the uranium in the graphite. You wouldn't even need to develop the technology to reduce and work and clad the uranium.

[hammo1j]

There's a description in one of Steven Baxter's books Space Time etc on how to make a heat generator from yellow cake Uranium Ore but I think that's about the farthest it would go.