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In the 70s, Scientists Discovered a 2BN-Year-Old Nuclear Reactor in West Africa
- CapitalistCartr 12y agoAs discussed on HN before: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7731753 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7731753 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2349182 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2349182
- matthewmcg 12y agoThe neat detail (for me, anyway) is that a natural uranium reactor of this sort was possible in the distant past when U-235 was relatively more abundant: "When the ore in Gabon was laid down some 2 billion years ago, the concentration of uranium-235 would have been about 4 per cent, more than enough for a self-sustaining nuclear reaction."
- iwwr 12y agoThere was a relatively short window for that to happen since uranium is soluble in water only in the presence of oxygen, and significant uranium deposits develop through hydrothermal processes.
- anon1110 12y agoIt is some kind of failure that no part of this was preserved for scientific study, given the unique and non-reproducible nature of the ancient reactor. Such a loss!