What could cause a spike in the natural uranium depletion rate?

I agree that a possible solution would be to add in a source of high-energy ambient neutrons. Cosmic rays are a possible neutron source, at least at high enough altitudes and assuming the uranium does not have adequate shielding. A strong spike in cosmic rays could then provide such a neutron source; in turn, as one of the major sources of Galactic cosmic rays are supernovae and supernova remnants (for cosmic rays below $\sim {10}^{15}$ eV), it's possible that one or more supernovae nearby could produce enough neutrons to raise the rate of uranium fission enough to be detected.

Supernovae, of course, can be dangerous when close enough to Earth. Fortunately for us, that critical distance is on the order of about ten light-years. However, this means that the cosmic ray flux would be lower than if the supernova was closer, so it's something of a tradeoff. That said, for an event to cause an increase in fission worldwide, rather than just in one spot, I suspect it would likely have to be astronomical in nature, meaning you'd need some sort of energetic phenomenon. This of course means that you'll be dealing with the same sort of issue with many of the answers you'll get.

posted over 5 years ago

HDE 226868‭

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