Coupled processes at the Oklo Natural reactor

This paper discusses how the Oklo Natural Reactor, Gabon, is an excellent site in which to study, asses, and evaluate coupled processes of interest to radionuclide migration in natural media. The uranium accumulations in which the fission reactions occured are dated at about two Gy (billions of years), and the nuclear reactions lasted for some 500,000 y (plus). Temperatures in the reactor zones were on the order of 300-450C, although local, higher temperatures may have been reached. This thermal regime aided in the diffusion of some fission products, and possibly actinides, from host pitch-blende. Post-reactor diagenesis events have masked some of the radionuclide mThis paper discusses how the Oklo Natural Reactor, Gabon, is an excellent site in which to study, asses, and evaluate coupled processes of interest to radionuclide migration in natural media. The uranium accumulations in which the fission reactions occurred are dated at about two Gy (billions of years), and the nuclear reactions lasted for some 500,000 y (±). Temperatures in the reactor zones were on the order of 300-450 degrees C, although local, higher temperatures may have been reached. This thermal regime aided in the diffusion of some fission products, and possibly actinides, from host pitch-blende. Post-reactor diagenesis events have masked some of the radionuclide migration paths, but most can still be studied.igration paths, but most can still be studied