The Oklo natural nuclear reactors

Dr Gareth Martin, Leeds Geological Association

Geology has many weird and wonderful curiosities, probably none more so than the Oklo natural nuclear reactors. Back in December 1942 humans created what was then thought to be the first controlled nuclear chain reaction on Earth. This thought persisted until 1972 when some unusual measurements in the concentration of uranium extracted from a uranium mine in the Gabon, Africa was identified at a reprocessing plant in France. Initially, it was thought that the uranium had been stolen but some scientific investigations and old hypotheses led to an amazing discovery which showed that nature beat us to controlled fission reactions by 1.9 billion years. This talk will give an overview of the story of the discovery and operation of these natural nuclear reactors as well as providing an insight into the fascinating, and surprisingly abundant, element which is Uranium.

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