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Credit & Copyright: Robert D. Loss
(Curtin U.)
Explanation:
The remnants of
nuclear reactors nearly two billion years old were
found in the 1970s in Africa.
These reactors
are thought to have occurred naturally.
No natural reactors exist today, as the relative density of
fissile
uranium
has now decayed below that needed for a sustainable reaction.
Pictured above is Fossil Reactor 15, located in
Oklo,
Gabon.
Uranium oxide
remains are visible as the yellowish rock.
Oklo by-products are being used today to
probe the stability of the
fundamental constants over cosmological
time
and distance
scales
and to develop more effective means for disposing of human-manufactured
nuclear waste.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day