Oklo natural fission reactor program. Progress report, April 1-August 31, 1980

Technical Report · Mon Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1980

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6738438· OSTI ID:6738438

Curtis, D B ^[1]

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1. comp.

An interim report has been published on the redistribution of uranium, thorium, and lead in samples representing several million cubic meters of sandstone and metamorphosed sediments in the Athabasca Basin which is located in the northwest corner of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The region of study includes zones of uranium mineralization at Key Lake. Mineralization occurs at the unconformity between the Athabasca sandstone and the underlying metasediments and in fault zones within the metasediments. Lead isotopes record a radiometric age of 1300 +- 150 m.y. in samples from above and below the unconformity. This age probably reflects the time of deposition of the sandstones and an associated redistribution of uranium and/or lead in the underlying rocks. Many of the samples have been fractionated with respect to radiogenic lead and the actinide parent elements since that time. Sandstones and altered rocks from the region above the unconformity have been a transport path and are a repository for lead. In contrast, mineralized rocks are deficient in radiogenic lead and must be an important source of lead in the local geologic environment. Samples from Oklo reactor zone 9 and nearby host rocks have been prepared for isotopic analyses of ruthenium, molybdenum, uranium and lead.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos Scientific Lab., NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 6738438
• Report Number(s): LA-8644-PR
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ACTINIDES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CANADA
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
DATA
DELAYED NEUTRON ANALYSIS
DRILL CORES
ELEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
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HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
INFORMATION
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
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LEAD 204
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NATURAL NUCLEAR REACTORS
NONDESTRUCTIVE ANALYSIS
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEAR REACTION ANALYSIS
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
OKLO PHENOMENON
RADIOISOTOPES
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
RESOURCES
ROCKS
SAMPLING
SANDSTONES
SASKATCHEWAN
SECONDS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SEDIMENTS
STABLE ISOTOPES
SURFACE WATERS
THORIUM
URANIUM
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YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES