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In 1972, a natural nuclear fission reactor was discovered in Gabon, Africa, where uranium and geological conditions triggered chain reactions lasting a few hundred thousand years. The reactor produced modest energy, and the radioactive byproducts have been safely contained for nearly 2 billion years, proving long-term geological storage of nuclear waste is feasible.
In 1972, scientists found evidence that nuclear fission had occurred naturally on Earth nearly 2 billion years ago. This natural nuclear fission reactor, in which a uranium deposit and ideal geological conditions triggered self-sustaining chain reactions, was discovered in the African nation of Gabon by French physicist Francis Perrin. The Gabon reactor is the only one of its kind to have been discovered on Earth. It consists of 16 sites where natural nuclear fission reactions have occurred, each lasting a few hundred thousand years.
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The energy produced by these natural nuclear reactors was modest. The average output was around 100 kilowatts, which would power around 1,000 light bulbs today. A typical nuclear power plant produces about 1,000 megawatts, enough to power about 10 million light bulbs.
The radioactive byproducts of fission reactions in Gabon have been safely contained for nearly 2 billion years, providing evidence that long-term geological storage of nuclear waste is feasible.
The possibility that natural nuclear reactors may have occurred on prehistoric Earth was speculated by scientists in the 1950s, two decades before evidence of their existence was found in Gabon.
