RE: Japanese nuclear accident: Did the reaction oscillate?

["Minnema, Douglas" <Douglas.Minnema@ns.doe.gov>]

Emil,

Yes, I had failed to mention the natural reactors of Africa which did
undergo a power transients until reaching thermal equilibrium.  However, due
to the characteristics of such a system, I would suspect that those reactors
did not an initial pulse, since the reactivity of the system probably
changed very slowly.  

It is my understanding that those natural reactors shutdown long ago, and
would not be able to operate today.  They operated in a time when the U-235
natural abundance was higher, and finally shutdown due to fuel burnup and
depletion.  They were only identified by the discovery of the anomalously
low U-235/U-238 ratio, the presence of Pu-239, and long-lived fission
products.

Doug Minnema
<Douglas.Minnema@ns.doe.gov>

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Kerembaev@cs.com [SMTP:Kerembaev@cs.com]
> Sent:	Tuesday, November 30, 1999 12:26 AM
> To:	Multiple recipients of list
> Subject:	Re: Japanese nuclear accident: Did the reaction oscillate?
> 
> Douglas,
> 
> Do not forget the natural phenomena in South Africa.
> That reactor has been around for a while and as far as I know, it is still
> 
> sustaining fission.
> Emil.
> kerrembaev@cs.com
> 
> 

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