Re[2]: re Nuclear Power

["William Kolb" <William_Kolb_at_SETA@mail.hq.faa.gov>]

I'm not convinced this is the correct lesson from Oklo.  The rarity (or absence) 
of similar depleted deposits argues that the fission products are indeed likely 
to work their way into the environment over eons.  Perhaps the issue is whether 
the material is "safer" when concentrated in one spot or uniformly distributed 
over the globe.

bill kolb
bkolb@arinc.com


Marvin Goldman writes:
>The lesson from OKLO was that almost 2 billion years after the
>natural reactor ceased fissioning, all the fission products,
>the full decay of the plutonium produced there, were found within
>a few meters of the "core." None of the final stable end daughter
>products "grew legs and translocated themselves," inferring that 
>the scenario, at least for that part of Gabon, was that the waste 
>products would not "leach" into the environment an pose a health 
>risk.  So said Paul Molina, one of the French geologist 
>discoverers of OKLO some 3 weeks ago at Chernobyl.