The Probability of Natural Nuclear Reactors - Case Study Example

Assessment Earth and space sciences Earth and Space Sciences The probability of natural nuclear reactors occurring on earth again is quite rare. This is because the conditions necessary for such reactions to take place are quite limited. Naturally nuclear reactors usually occur the moment deposits of uranium, which is a radioactive element, build up in a single spot, and finally ignite a nuclear chain reaction which is self-sustaining, causing uranium to sub-divide a process known as fission, leading to production of other elements. This kind of process usually leads to release of powerful punch of energy. The only known and confirmed natural nuclear reactor on earth was discovered in Oklo part of Gabon in Africa by French miners in 1972.Thus it was discovered that the samples of uranium extracted there were exhausted in the rare isotope uranium 235,which is the only natural material on Earth able to maintain fission reactions. The samples collected showed that it was like the material had already undergone a nuclear reaction and finally been used up. This is the most supported scenario by several studies. Thus many scientists reason that a concentration of uranium 235 available there went seriously critical like two billion years ago and thus experienced fission, just like happens in modern-day artificial nuclear reactors. Thus Gabon site remains the only evidence on earth of naturally occurring reactors. It therefore seems that these kinds of reactors would have been more common in the Earth’s early history, since the amount (of uranium) you need is in fact small. If a natural nuclear reaction were to occur on Earth’s surface today would have taken place then the ionizing radiation released by a reaction of nuclear nature can destroy the DNA of living organisms which is an important instruction code built into each cell of life. Organisms living near the site of natural nuclear reactor would also be completely wiped out and those that receive a smaller dose not enough to cause death would suffer mutations in their genetic code. 2. (a) Increase in world’s population since 1950s has definitely contributed to the increasing number of natural disasters. Thus between the year 1950 and 2003,the population of the world has grown from an estimated 2.5 billion to more than 6.3 billion as reported by US Census Bureau. Thus more and several people in the world today are being affected by natural calamities since there is more population in the world presently to be affected. Apart from the fundamental statistics natural calamities may be becoming more and more expensive due to the expensive infrastructure human beings are putting up in regions that are prone to natural calamities, like fire-prone forests, coastal regions, riverbanks and sharp mountain slopes. This means that if natural disasters are causing a bigger impact presently, then the perpetrator is not Mother Nature but human nature. In the year 2000 for instance, Mongolian Herders were hit hardest by severe winter in 30 years, whereby 2.4 million livestock died and affecting 45% of the country’s population. Floods have also occurred in Southeast Asia in September 2000 especially in Thailand and Vietnam, killing an estimated 900 people and leaving 4 million homeless, with no or insufficient shelters. Losses were estimated at over US $ 460 million. (b)Frequent occurrences of natural economic disasters have been found to have much larger welfare costs than constant fluctuations of smaller amplitude. Thus for the characteristic advanced economy, the cost of welfare associated with huge economic disasters such as like those suffered in the 20th century (economic depressions, financial crises, wars) amounting to around 20% of annual GDP, whereas normal business cycle instability amounted to a considerable 1.5% of GDP. Thus for developing nations ,which mostly are affected by frequent natural calamities of all kinds and of even bigger magnitude than economies that are advanced, these occurrences usually have got an even bigger impact on the welfare of the common people. Recently, there has been devastation that has been caused by earthquakes and in 2010, such countries as Chile and Haiti bore the brunt of these calamities. Thus in January 2010 an earthquake struck Haiti’s heavily populated city, Port-au-Prince, caused considerable loss of lives(200,000 to 250,000 fatalities),displacement of several thousands and serious damage to the city’s economic infrastructure(approximated to be over 100% of Haiti’s GDP).In February 2010,another earthquake rocked Chile and was physically stronger. It struck in a heavily populated region causing over 1000 fatalities and direct economic damages. In September 2009, a tsunami occurred in Samoa, 2 typhoons took place in the Philippines, Sumatra also suffered an earthquake and a hurricane took place off Mexico’s pacific coast and all of these natural disasters caused untold of damage and killed several thousands of people. (c)Mitigation can be termed as actions taken so as to prevent or reduce the risks of loss of life, property, economic and social activities, and natural resources mostly from natural calamities. Such actions include awareness, preparedness, education, warning and prediction systems therefore can lead to reduction of disruptive effects of natural calamities on communities. Measures such as adopting zoning, building codes and land-use practices are also required so as to reduce or prevent actual destruction from these natural hazards. Another program that can be adopted is preventing development and building in flood and landslide-prone areas via zoning and planning ordinances for instance may prevent loss of lives and destruction to property and natural resources as well as saving money. Another program is post disaster studies which continue to confirm the basic fact that investing in community mitigation pays immediate and direct dividends when a disaster takes place. 3. Several seismologists have argued that earthquakes mostly do not kill people, but actually buildings do. This is due to the sole reason that most deaths resulting from earthquakes are actually caused by buildings or other structures falling down during the impact of the earthquake. Thus earthquakes that occur in densely populated cities are bound to cause more fatalities. Another relationship between earthquakes and cities is the construction standards or rather the building codes used. Thus for the cities with superior building codes, fatalities are bound to be quite low. On the other hand cities with poor building codes are most likely to experience more fatalities. The third relationship between cities and earthquakes is emergency preparedness. This means that a city that is well prepared in terms of disaster and emergency will be able to save more lives in case of an earthquake striking than the one that is poorly prepared on the same. Tokyo is one of the big cities in which an earthquake is most likely to occur. Tokyo is built precisely at the triple meeting point of 3 main tectonic plates-the Philippine plate, the Pacific plate and the North-American plate and therefore is always on the move. Tokyo has got a long history and familiarity with earthquakes has pressed on the city to advance maximum levels of tectonic protection. Thus Tokyo is by far the most equipped and well prepared capital worldwide for an earthquake disaster. Tokyo is implementing the following measures in order to help minimize human fatalities during future earthquakes; First and foremost ,engineers at Tokyo are designing infrastructure that are earthquake resistant, this means that these structures are specially designed so as to withstand strong and violent tremors by utilizing the very latest technology. Secondly Tokyo has been strengthening existing infrastructure by using very superior technology such as reinforcing by wrapping steel frames around the pillars of buildings and bridges, or by placing steel rods in the already existing structures. Thirdly, the Japanese government has invested heavily in earthquake drills which are done regularly in several earthquake-prone cities to educate and also familiarize people on what to do in the case of an earthquake. Thus Tokyo has invested in the use of signs and posters so as to warn people about areas that are likely to have serious effects of earthquakes such as coastal areas where tsunamis can most likely occur. 4. (a) The magnitude, frequency, and return period of a natural disaster can be measured in order to help prepare for future threats by use of logarithm, seismometers and even the Richter scale for the earthquakes. Other natural disasters can be monitored by use of radio-based remote sensors (active and passive) and are the main tools especially for environment and climate monitoring, disaster prediction and detection, and also for mitigating the adverse effects of disasters. Thus the sensors collect environmental data by measuring of the level and parameters of artificial and natural radio waves, which naturally contain information about the environment in which they have come into contact with. There is also the space-borne and terrestrial remote sensing applications are the backbone of the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).The information thus collected can be assembled in a GIS for hazards management and used to prepare for vulnerability assessments, natural hazard assessments, disaster preparedness and subsequent response or rather post-disaster reconstruction and relief activities. (b)Examples of low fatality events include disasters like hurricanes, famines and floods whereas high fatality events include disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis and cyclones. The return time for these events ranges from twice or thrice in a period of 100 years. 4. (c) Measuring the magnitude, frequency and return period of disasters can impact positively on the cost-benefit ratios in the economy in such a way that it will help in predicting the future occurrence of the natural disaster, the exact place it may strike and the likely consequences it may have. This will help in designing buildings and infrastructure that can withstand such a calamity or better still avoid building the same near the path of the natural disaster. It is also possible too utilise the knowledge of magnitude, frequency and return period to determine how much one should spend on a building. This is possible because when the danger is known, it means it is also possible to carry out an estimate of the required materials, the cost of the design and above all the number of man hours and type of equipment to be employed. References Robert, T. J. (2012). The Fourth Source:Effects of Natural Nuclear Reactors. New York: Universal Publishers. Read More