I read and heard about old extracted diamond & gold mines in Africa way before the De Beers family and other foreign companies started mining years ago, but for whatever reason Uranium just went over my head.
I love this scientific controversial stuff. Great channel> Beyond Science and others below.
In 1972, a French factory imported uranium ore from Oklo, in Africa’s Gabon Republic. To its surprise, it found the uranium had already been extracted. They found the site of origin to be a large-scale highly advanced nuclear reactor that came into being…wait for it… 1.8 BILLION years ago and was in operation for some wait for it again 500,000 YEARS.
Scientists gathered to investigate, with many explaining it away as a wondrous, yet natural, phenomenon.
http://www.damninteresting.com/the-isle-of-doctor-seaborg/
Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg , former head of the United States Atomic Energy Commission and Nobel Prize winner for his work in the synthesis of heavy elements, believes it wasn’t a natural phenomenon, and thus must be a man-made nuclear reactor.
He says For uranium to “burn” in a reaction, very precise conditions are needed.
The water must be extremely pure, for one. Much purer than exists naturally anywhere in the world.
Uranium is a chemical element with symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-white metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons.
Furthermore, the moderator and the fuel must be extremely pure. Even a few parts per million of contaminant, such as boron, will poison the reaction, bringing it to a halt.
Also The material U-235 is necessary for nuclear fission to occur. It is one of the isotopes found naturally in uranium. Several specialists in reactor engineering have said they believe the uranium in Oklo could not have been rich enough in U-235 for a reaction to take place naturally.
Furthermore, it seems the reactor was more advanced than anything we could build today. It was several miles in length and the thermal impact to its environment was limited to 40 meters (about 131 feet) on all sides. The radioactive waste is still contained by surrounding geological elements and has not migrated beyond the mine site.
