Nuclear waste spectrum as evidence of technological extraterrestrial civilizations

Journal Article · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1980 · Icarus; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0019-1035(80)90253-5· OSTI ID:7041912

Whitmire, D P; Wright, D P

The possible observational consequences of galactic civilizations which utilize their local star as a repository for radioactive fissile waste material are considered. If a relatively small fraction of the nuclear resources present in the crust of a terrestrial-type planet were processed via breeder reactors, the resulting stellar spectrum would be selectively modified over geological time periods provided the star has a sufficiently shallow outer convective zone. Consideration of surface convective mixing and stellar lifetimes restricts the possible candidate stars to the approximate spectral range A5-F2. The abundance anomalies resulting from the slow neutron fission of plutonium-239 and uranium-233 are presented and it is argued that these anomalous distributions are unlikely to be duplicated by natural nucleosynthesis processes. Relative to solar system abundances, the elements praseodymium and neodymium are found to be the most overabundant. These elements, along with the radioactive elements technetium and plutonium, could be used to identify A5-F2 candidate stars in a preliminary spectral survey.

• Research Organization: Southwestern Louisiana, University, Lafayette, LA
• OSTI ID: 7041912
• Journal Information: Icarus; (United States), Vol. 42
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
FISSION
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
STARS
STAR BURNING
EMISSION SPECTRA
ABUNDANCE
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
NEODYMIUM
PLUTONIUM
PLUTONIUM 239
PRASEODYMIUM
TECHNETIUM
URANIUM 233
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ACTINIDES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
ELEMENTS
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
HEAVY NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
MANAGEMENT
METALS
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEI
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
RADIOISOTOPES
RARE EARTHS
SPECTRA
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS
URANIUM ISOTOPES
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
640102* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Stars & Quasi-Stellar
Radio & X-Ray Sources