4 ms·
> but natural uranium can't trigger itself, can it? Right now? Not that we know of. Historically? Yes. https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/meet-oklo-the-ear
by aaronmdjones 1y ago
> but natural uranium can't trigger itself, can it?
Right now? Not that we know of.
Historically? Yes.
https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/meet-oklo-the-earths-two-billion-year-old-only-known-natural-nuclear-reactor https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/meet-oklo-the-earths-tw...
- tgv 1y ago2B years ago, the U235/U238 ratios were different. Isn't that (part of) the explanation?
- jwilk 1y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_nuclear_fission_reactor#Mechanism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_nuclear_fission_reacto... says: > A key factor that made the reaction possible was that [back then] the fissile isotope ²³⁵U made up about 3.1% of the natural uranium, which is comparable to the amount used in some of today's reactors.