Deep beneath the Earth
lies a mysterious and powerful force.
A wellspring of nuclear energy
which could one day rip us apart.
Many scientists have found clues
that natural nuclear reactions
have occurred in the past.
But should we be worried?
This is WHAT IF and here's what would happen
In 1972, 15 natural fission reactors
were discovered in a mine in West Africa.
Scientists found uranium samples
with isotope structures matching
those found in modern nuclear reactors.
If you're fishin' for an explanation, well,
nuclear fission is when a larger atom
is split into two new, smaller atoms.
Each time this split happens, energy is released.
But where does all this energy go?
In a study from 2011,
scientists theorized that
any movement of the Earth's continents and crust
could actually be due to nuclear fission.
It just so happens
Earth is chock full of radioactive elements,
including uranium,
thorium,
and potassium.
Scientists believe
that over the billions of years
of Earth's existence,
radioactive isotopes have been splitting,
releasing energetic particles known as
By measuring these antineutrino emissions,
they discovered roughly 20 terawatts
of the Earth's heat is a result of geo-reactions.
That's enough energy to move mountains.
Literally and forcibly.
So does this mean we might be sitting
on a ticking time bomb?
Believe it or not, there may have been
a massive geo-reaction in the past.
After analyzing lunar rocks,
scientists found silicate
from the Earth and the Moon
show a striking similarity.
This could suggest that our Moon
may have been formed from the Earth's mantle.
This is just a theory,
but it might help us understand
what's happening beneath the Earth's mantle
to cause such explosions.
In order for a natural nuclear reactor to occur,
there needs to be a high enough
concentration of U-235
an isotope of uranium,
the presence of water or graphite
to slow down neutrons,
and little to no presence
of neutron absorbing elements, such as silver.
At the KamLAND detector,
an underground facility near Toyama, Japan,
scientists can measure
antineutrinos passing through the Earth
as a result of radioactive decay.
If there's an abnormally high quantity,
this could be a useful warning sign
of an impending geo-reaction.
We could also look at computer simulations
to help us find areas
where natural reactors might occur
and measure them with antineutrino counters.
Or, we might just notice
something strange happening in the ground.
Certain areas may fluctuate
between being hot and cold
or emit steam at weird intervals.
If we detect it,
we'd need a way to prevent it.
A geo-reaction could tear the whole Earth apart,
and possibly create a second moon,
if we're not careful.
One thing we could do is
pump a whole lot of silver or cobalt
into suspect areas,
which would help absorb neutrons
and stop any reaction with element U-235.
Though we'd better hope the geo-reactor
isn't too deep for us to reach,
otherwise, we'll need to figure out
another, more complex, plan.
Luckily, scientists believe
the amount of element U-235 is too low
at around 0.72%,
for this to occur any time soon.
Thank goodness.
As awesome as having a second Moon might be,
we likely wouldn't survive to see it.
Unless, of course,
we preemptively set up shop
on our current Moon,
in some kind of celestial lunar city.
But that's a story for another WHAT IF.