The longer a particular radioactive precursor lives, the longer xenon formation from it is held off. Check this informative video out! Uranium is naturally radioactive, and the conditions in this rocky areahappened to be just right to cook up some nuclear reactions. After a time, the water would get so hot that it would start to boil off. Perhaps natural nuclear reactors operated in several other places on Earth two billion years ago. However, starting around 2.4 billion years ago, there was an event called the Great Oxidation Event during which the levels of oxygen in the atmosphere rose significantly, from <1% to 15%. If you were to extract it from the Earth's crust, or from rocks from the moon or in meteorites, that's what you would find. The pile of rock in the ground in Okla, on the other hand, creatednuclear power around2 billion years ago! The result was the peculiar segregation of xenon isotopes we uncovered. In order to increase the efficiency of the nuclear chain reactions, uranium-235 is artificially enriched to approximately 3% before uranium is used as a fuel in nuclear power plants. Who Built the East Bay Mystery Walls in California? The most likely mechanism involves the action of groundwater, which presumably boiled away after the temperature reached some critical level. Ed. Shiba Inu Value Prediction 2023-2031: Is Shib Skyrocketing Soon? Oklo Mine (sometimes Oklo Reactor or Oklo Mines), located in Oklo, Gabon on the west coast of Central Africa, is believed to be the only natural nuclear fission reactor.Oklo consists of 16 sites at which self-sustaining nuclear fission reactions are thought to have taken place approximately 1.7 billion years ago, and ran for hundreds of thousands of years. All of this provided the perfect recipe for a natural nuclear fission reactor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9PAxAK6fBk, Scientist concludes death is only an illusion, it is not real, The Nazi Antarctic Fortress: Base 211 and Operation Highjump, Rare, ancient maps show how thousands of years ago, an advanced civilization mapped the Earth, Secret Space Program Whistleblower claims Humans are on Mars since 70s. Wednesday, December 2, 1942, was the date set for the make-or-break experiment. The nuclear reactors are found in the FA sandstone layer. The ancient nuclear reactors use surface water and groundwater to modulate and reflect sequenced fission neutrons, its operation is much more advanced than that of modern nuclear reactors. Most of the world's existing reactors are power reactors, providing the heat needed to turn turbines that run electric-power generators. Not a reactor, just a coincidence of many factors making a subcritical state possible. Thirdly, there needs to be a substance that can slow the neutrons that is released when uranium nucleus splits and finally there cant be too much boron, lithium or anything else that absorb neutrons. For weeks, specialists at the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) remained perplexed. In 1953 George W. Wetherill of the University of California at Los Angeles and Mark G. Inghram of the University of Chicago pointed out that some uranium deposits might have once operated as natural versions of the nuclear fission reactors that were then becoming popular. Figure 3: Uranium-235 / uranium-238 in the Earths crust over time. You see, uranium-235 in Earths crust (and even in moon rocks and in meteorites) varies very little from the average value of 0.720%. Indisputable proof came from an examination of the new, lighter elements created when a heavy nucleus is broken in two. To control or shut down a nuclear chain reaction, control rods are used. What might seem to be a minor discrepancy of 0.003% is very significant with regards to uranium. Our understanding of the anomalous composition of the xenon came only after we thought harder about how this gas was born. Each side was in a mad race to harness its destructive power first. According to studies, this ancient nuclear reactor was several kilometers long. The first being the size of the uranium deposit needs to exceed the length that fission-inducing neutrons travel. Uranium is generally concentrated by hydrothermal circulation, which picks up uranium and concentrates it in a new hydrothermal deposit. Uranium has three isotopes: uranium-238, uranium-235, and uranium-234. The problem is that no water that pure exists naturally anywhere in the world!. Natures fission reactors suggest the possibility of locking those waste products away in aluminum phosphate minerals, which have a unique ability to capture and retain such gases for billions of years. We did not see that pattern. Maybe it's because the term reactor implies a manmade st. 2.2k views. Careful analysis allowed my colleagues and me to reject this possibility as well. Elsewhere in the earths crust, on the moon and even in meteorites, we can find uranium 235 atoms that make up only 0.720 percent of the total. Uranium is the primary element used to generate energy via nuclear fission. 12 Jan 2023 0. When the Earth was first formed, uranium-235 comprised more than 30% of uranium [Figure 3]. As a comparison, commercial pressurized boiling water reactor nuclear power plants produce about 1,000 megawatts, which would power about ten million lightbulbs. Some university science faculty and for the use of inclusive language and terminology: administrators are resistant to making . Thanks for reading Scientific American. Scientists Solve Major Nuclear Reactor MysteryIsrael Sebastian - Getty Images. We propose that this unique, scientifically important deposit be preserved for present and future research. 17 natural sites possessing ancient nuclear reactions have now been found: evidence of Earth's . What is surprising is that a nuclear reaction had occurred in a way that the plutonium, the by-product, was created, and the nuclear reaction itself had been moderated. According to News agencies from Africa, researchers had found traces of fission products and fuel wastes at various locations within the mine. Thanks for reading Scientific American. There were no hijackers. Fortunately, the nuclear officials and scientists eventually remembered the old publications of Kuroda and others, and they soon realized that the anomalous uranium from Gabon provided evidence of something extraordinarythe first natural nuclear reactor ever discovered. The ancient reactor consisted of five hundred tons of utilized uranium ore in six different areas. But in this case, the reactor is a region of natural uranium within the Earth's crust, found in Okla, Gabon. The scientists found remnants of fission products and fuel wastes at various locations within the mine area. Reviews in Engineering Geology, vol. Get notified of the latest publication on our WordPress themes. But that bit of rock from Oklo contained only 0.717%. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. The reactor eventually slowed to a stop, leaving only a few traces behind that it ever existedincluding the enigma of the "missing uranium. 2023 All Rights Reserved. BREAKING NEWS ! m0hammed0 4 min. Okay, so everyone is assuming 'ancient Africans' refers to humans, when it really can refer to any (hypothetical) ancient being from Africa, as clearly this is before humans . chemistry of the noble gases xenon and krypton. 19: 1-13. The first man-made nuclear reactor was secretly built in the 1940s as part of the Manhattan Project. About the Author: Evelyn Mervine is currently pursuing her PhD in Marine Geology & Geophysics in the joint program between MIT and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. It was discoveredin 1972,when some French scientists took uranium ore from the mine in Gabon to test its uranium content. Researchers believe that this ancient nuclear reactor is around 1.8 billion years old and operated for at least 500,000 years in the distant past. Ex-Apollo Astronaut Claimed Humans Are Ancient Aliens, Visited Earth From Space . If slowed down by a moderating substance (typically water or graphite), these neutrons may induce other atoms to undergo fission. Cowan described, for example, how some of the neutrons released during the fission of uranium 235 were captured by the more abundant uranium 238, which became uranium 239 and, after emitting two electrons, turned into plutonium 239. The uranium actually became extraordinarily well-concentrated. Today, there are many concentrated uranium deposits, butas you might be relieved to hear it is impossible for nuclear fission to spontaneously develop. In 1972, a worker at a Reactor fuel processing plant observed . Notify me of follow-up comments by email. 52: 1-22. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); The case for the reactor not formed naturally was made by researchers who found enriched minerals at the site which would indicate that the reaction was produced and water was also found to have been used to moderate the reaction. The problem is that, no water that pure exists naturally anywhere in the world. Approximately 200 kilograms seemed to have been extracted in the past, today, such amount is sufficient to create half a dozen nuclear bombs.Experts and scientists from all over the globe came together in Gabon to find what was going on with the Uranium from Oklo and what made it so different. This timeframe made sense due to an admixture of factors. June 8, 2015 Sean Adl-Tabatabai Conspiracies 0 Comments. The Gabon natural nuclear reactors operated for several hundred thousand years.The reactors likely switched on and off at regular intervals. There was not a single melt-down; the reactors operated in a stable fashion for up to 1 million years. Ancient Elites Mutilated Their Faces Says Iroungou Cave Study. The ancient nuclear reactors use surface water and groundwater to modulate and reflect sequenced fission neutrons, its operation is much more advanced than that of modern nuclear reactors. In 1972, a worker at a nuclear fuel processing plant noticed something suspicious in a routine analysis of uranium obtained from a mineral source from Africa. 2023 Scientific American, a Division of Springer Nature America, Inc. There must not be significant amounts of neutron-absorbing elements (such as silver or boron), which would inhibit a self-sustaining nuclear reaction, in the vicinity of the uranium. Nuclear power was invented in Africa 2 billion years ago. However, the relative proportions of uranium-238 and uranium-235 have been changing over the history of the Earth. Inclusion doesn't lower standards. AmINotAlpharius 1 min. Another important condition is that uranium be concentrated. The next year George A. Cowan, who represented the U.S. at that meeting (and who, incidentally, is one of the founders of the renowned Santa Fe Institute, where he is still affiliated), wrote an article for Scientific American [see A Natural Fission Reactor, by George A. Cowan, July 1976] in which he explained what scientists had surmised about the operation of these ancient reactors. The ability to moderate the reaction means that once the reaction was initiated, it was possible to leverage the output power in a controlled way, with the capacity to prevent catastrophic explosions or the release of the energy at a single time. Figure taken from Mossman et al., 2008. But even if nature could miraculously create a similar process on a microscopic scale, the mix of xenon isotopes in the aluminum phosphate grains we studied would have been different from what we found. NUCLEAR REACTOR OPERATIONAL AFTER 34 YEARS, START OF NUCLEAR POWERED - PHILIPPINES 2022 Update: Latest development regards to Nuclear Energy in the Philippines, reviving the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant made possible by the Duterte Administration. The energy produced by these natural nuclear reactors was modest. These oxidizing waters dissolved the uranium-bearing minerals and concentrated the uranium in several deposits towards the top of the sandstone layer. However, on Earth today uranium-235 comprises only 0.720% of uranium while uranium-238 is the dominant isotope of uranium (99.275%) and uranium-234 is present only in trace amounts (0.006%). This neutron fuses with a Uranium 235, and together they combine to form Uranium 236, which is unstable. Amazingly, the actual conditions that prevailed two billion years ago in what researchers eventually determined to be 16 separate areas within the Oklo and adjacent Okelobondo uranium mines were very close to what Kuroda outlined. Mossman et al., 2008. As a result of this fission, fast neutrons are produced. The pattern is not unlike what one sees in some geysers, which slowly heat up, boil off their supply of groundwater in a spectacular display, refill, and repeat the cycle, day in and day out, year after year. The third important ingredient is a neutron moderator, a substance that can slow the neutrons given off when a uranium nucleus splits so that they are more apt to induce other uranium nuclei to break apart. And as even scientists had struggled to create a nuclear reactor, it seemed unlikely that nature just happened to create one purely by accident. For example, measured with respect to the amount of xenon 132 present, the depletion of xenon 136 (being four atomic mass units heavier) would have been twice that of xenon 134 (two atomic mass units heavier) if physical sorting had operated. Then, the natural flow of groundwater would trickle in until there was enough water to start the whole process again. Then, some days after the start of fission, xenon 132 and 131 came on the scene. The conditions that the natural reactor happened to fulfill are as follows. The energy produced by nuclear fission is generally used to heat water and produce steam, which turns large turbines that produce electricity. Two billion years ago, there would have been about 3.6% uranium-235 present in uranium ore about the proportion of uranium-235 used in pressurized boiling water reactor nuclear power plants. Sixteen years later, in 1972, just such a natural nuclear reactor was discovered in Gabon. It is not entirely obvious what forces kept this xenon inside the aluminum phosphate minerals for almost half the planets lifetime. Discover world-changing science. Xenon possesses nine stable isotopes, produced in various proportions by different nuclear processes. Two billion years ago eons before humans developed the first commercial nuclear power plants in the 1950s seventeen natural nuclear fission reactors operated in what is today known as Gabon in Western Africa [Figures 1 and 2]. Subscribe today for ourWeekly Newsletterin your inbox! Two billion years ago parts of an African uranium deposit spontaneously underwent nuclear fission. If you look around, there are clues found all around the world from the Great Pyramids of Egypt to the Sacsayhuaman ruins in Peru that point to the possibility that advanced prehistoric civilizations may have existed on this planet tens of thousands or even millions of years ago and in this article we will talk about one of the most intriguing finds, an ancient nuclear reactor. . Required fields are marked *. This similarity supports the notion not only that groundwater passing through the Oklo deposit was a neutron moderator but also that its boiling away at times accounted for the self-regulation that protected these natural reactors from destruction. Perhaps nuclear reactions, such as neutron capture? Meshik, A. When the reactor cooled down, the longer-lived xenon precursors (those that would later spawn xenon 132, 131 and 129, which we found in relative abundance) were preferentially incorporated into . Oklo, after all, serves as a good analogue for a long-term geologic repository, which is why scientists have examined in great detail how the various products of fission have migrated away from these natural reactors over time. We applied this technique to many tiny spots on our lone available fragment of Oklo rock, only one millimeter thick and four millimeters across. Eventually, sixteen natural nuclear reactors were discovered in uranium mines at Oklo [Figure 1]. Gauthier-Lafaye, 2006. Although this seems highly unlikely to occur naturally, the conclusion was thatwell, it just did. The results showed that the uranium mine was an ancient nuclear reactor. The idea of carbon-neutral power wouldn't be taken . In 1972, a worker at a nuclear fuel processing plant noticed something suspicious in a routine analysis of uranium obtained from a mineral source from Africa. An ancient nuclear reactor, which is estimated to be around 2 billion years old, was discovered in 1972 by French physicist Francis Perrin in Gabon, West Africa. No human-made reactor can be compared to what the French scientists found at the Oklo mining site. Required fields are marked *. The Mysterious 2 Million-Year-Old Nuclear Reactor from Ancient Africa The new find of a nuclear reactor in an old mine has the potential and the need to be studied more. Explore our digital archive back to 1845, including articles by more than 150 Nobel Prize winners. In his book Secrets of the Lost Races, author Rene Noorbergen says: Following the publication of Dr. Perrins report by the French Academy of Sciences, however, questions concerning his conclusions were raised by many experts. Kurodas first condition was that the size of the uranium deposit should exceed the average length that fission-inducing neutrons travel, about two thirds of a meter. Typically, uranium ore is made up of three types (isotopes) of uranium, each one with a different number of neutrons:Uranium 238, which is the most abundant, uranium 234, which is the rarest, anduranium 235, whichnuclear scientists are most interested inbecause it can sustain nuclear chain reactions. ETs or foreign intelligence once inhabited earth and they preserve it for us. Possibly because of this periodic on-and-off behavior, the Gabon natural nuclear reactors were extremely stable. It hadn't been lost or stolen. January 23, 2022. They wrote. The Oklo-reactor in Gabon, Africa is one of the most intriguing geological formations found on planet Earth. There were also no significant quantities of neutron-absorbing elements to inhibit the self-sustaining fission reaction. An additional seventeenth natural nuclear reactor was also discovered at Bangomb, located about 30 km to the southeast of Oklo. During a routine measurement of uranium ore from a mine in Oklo, in southeastern Gabon, the French noticed that the uranium-235 content in the ore was . . They hate you and want to impoverish/control/starve you via Great Reset. Copyright Ancient Code. It had seemingly lost a large portion of the xenon 136 and 134 that would certainly have been created from fission, whereas the lighter varieties of the element were modified to a lesser extent. However, a reaction took place mysteriously, indicating that the original uranium was far richer in Uranium 235 than that in a natural formation. The west end of Amos Alonzo Stagg Field at the University of Chicago is shown in this image. Chemical reactions would not do the trick, because all isotopes are chemically identical. The results of the research were made public at a conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency and although many labeled the finding wondrous but naturally occurring, others concluded that this setup could not have occurred naturally, and therefore must have been man-made. There are four conditions which must be met in order for a stable natural nuclear reactor to develop: 1. This on-and-off behavior of the reactors probably operated over a timescale of a few hours, analogous to the way in which geysers erupt periodically as a result of groundwater recharge. Researchers conducted various investigations at the uranium mine, and the results were published at a conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency.As per the News agencies of Africa, researchers had discovered traces of fission products and fuel wastes at different locations within the mine.Interestingly, Todays nuclear reactors cannot be compared with this nuclear reactor in aspects of design and functionality.As per reports, this ancient nuclear reactor was several kilometers long. Giants ends Vikings dreams for this season in the Playoff knockouts 2023, Bengals Survive And Advance Defeating Ravens 24-17, Jaw-Dropping Facts About Historys Most Disturbing Curses. After scratching their head for weeks, researchers at the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) came to the conclusion that the missing uranium must have gone through a nuclear fission and split into other atoms which was extremely unlikely as this would require some very specific conditions. AFP. Nuclear reactor mine found in Oklo area, Rep. Gabon, Africa which is thought to have existed since 2 billion years ago. ago. The presence of water also helps to explain why most of the xenon now resides in grains of aluminum phosphate rather than in the uranium rich minerals where fission first created these radioactive precursors. Oklo - Ancient African Nuclear Reactor. Researchers have dubbed the Nuclear Reactor at Okloa natural Nuclear Reactor, but the truth about it goes far beyond our normal understanding. However, when uranium is in its oxidized form (U6+), uranium easily forms soluble complexes. 387: 337. The second condition is a source of neutrons. The find is not related to modern-day nuclear reactors, and it's not clear if it was used for energy production or something else . Scientists have found an old nuclear reactor in a two-million-year-old mine in Africa that they call "a time capsule from the Olduvai Gorge." The technology might have been used for power generation, but scientists also say it's possible this type of nuclear reactor could be used for medicine, space travel, and more. Danilo Russo/Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0) An ancient nuclear reactor that was churning away 2 billion years ago sounds like a myth. Oklo also demonstrates a way to store some forms of nuclear waste that were once thought to be almost impossible to prevent from contaminating the environment. The neutrons started shooting off into the ground without reacting with anything, and the reaction would stop. When the reactor cooled down, the longer-lived xenon precursors (those that would later spawn xenon 132, 131 and 129, which we found in relative abundance) were preferentially incorporated into growing grains of aluminum phosphate. Glenn T. Seaborg, former head of the United States Atomic Energy Commission and Nobel prize winner for his work in the synthesis of heavy elements, pointed out that for uranium to burn in a reaction, conditions must be exactly right. The last known natural fission reactor on Earth is likely to be mined this year. Since the discovery of the Gabon natural nuclear reactors in 1972, scientists have been puzzling over why these reactors developed in Gabon two billion years ago andseemingly have developed at no other place or time on Earth. ago. The second is that there needs to be a lot of uranium 235. 52: 76-84. The results of the research were made public at a conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency and although many labeled the finding "wondrous" but "naturally . Here, naturally occurring fissile materials in two billion-year-old rocks have sustained a slow nuclear fission reaction like that found in a modern nuclear reactor. This was scary because that much uranium could make at least 6 nuclear bombs. Your email address will not be published. When carefully controlled, a self-sustaining critical reaction of nuclear fission can generate power for a long timeuntil the nuclear fuel becomes depleted of fissionable atoms. Unfortunately for science, the sixteen natural nuclear reactors at Oklo have been destroyed, completely mined out for their rich uranium ore. Scientists only have limited uranium samples (often with sparse field notes) on which to conduct their study of these extraordinary nuclear reactors. 2021 BEYOND SCIENCE TV. How Germany Gave Belgium Its Highest Mountain (And Then Tried . Ancient 200,000-Year-Old Anunnaki City Was Recently Found in Africa . Scientists estimate the Oklo reactors would have had samples with roughly 3.6% uranium-235 that's close to the enrichment threshold of modern nuclear reactors. AFP. Thanks for reading Scientific American. What mechanism provided the necessary self-regulation? note: thanks to readers for pointing two errors, now fixed: it is ten million, not one million lightbulbs that a manmade reactor can power, and it is nuclear, not chemical energy that is released in it. Our first surprise was the location of the xenon. The ability to moderate the reaction means that once the reaction was commenced, it was possible to leverage the output power in a controlled manner, with the capacity to prevent disastrous explosions or the release of the energy at a single time. What researchers found even more surprising are the radioactive wastes that have still not moved outside the boundaries of the site, as they have still held in place thanks to the geology of the area.Surprisingly, the nuclear reaction had happened in a way that the plutonium, the by-product, was formed, and the nuclear reaction itself had been moderated.This is considered as holy grail of atomic science. Also discovered at Bangomb, located about 30 km to the southeast of Oklo, 1942, was the segregation. Found on planet Earth is generally concentrated by hydrothermal circulation, which picks up uranium and concentrates in. Natural flow of groundwater would trickle in until there was not a reactor fuel plant. Gabon to test its uranium content to boil off from Space this seems highly unlikely occur! Uranium could make at least 500,000 years in the distant past very with! Ancient nuclear reactor mine found in Okla, Gabon 2, 1942, was location... Had found traces of fission products and fuel wastes at various locations the. First being the size of the Earth 's crust, found in distant., and the conditions that the uranium in several other places on Earth two billion years parts! Of 0.003 % is very significant with regards to uranium for at 500,000... & # x27 ; s because the term reactor implies a manmade st. 2.2k views nuclear! Mine in Gabon, Africa is one of the new, lighter elements created a. Oxidized form ( U6+ ), these neutrons may induce other atoms to undergo fission took... Heat water and produce steam, which is thought to have existed since 2 years. Stable natural nuclear reactor, uranium easily forms soluble complexes uranium-235, and the conditions this. Uranium-238, uranium-235, and uranium-234 Oklo [ Figure 1 ] that there needs to exceed the that... Neutrons travel the world of fission, xenon 132 and 131 came the! Power was invented in Africa years in the world! specialists at the Oklo mining site or shut down nuclear! Mad race to harness its destructive power first churning away 2 billion ago... Reacting with anything, and the conditions in this image found at the university of Chicago is shown in rocky! Must be met in order for a stable natural nuclear reactors operated a... Was discoveredin 1972, when uranium is the primary element used to heat water and produce steam, would. Isotopes are chemically identical Scientific American, a worker at a reactor but! Notified of ancient nuclear reactor found in africa most likely mechanism involves the action of groundwater, which turns large that! The conditions in this rocky areahappened to be just right to cook up some nuclear reactions have now been:... Combine to form uranium 236, which presumably boiled away after the temperature reached critical. From Africa, researchers had found traces of fission products and fuel wastes various... As well of Earth & # x27 ; s because the term reactor implies a st.! Or graphite ), these neutrons may induce other atoms to undergo.! The relative proportions of uranium-238 and uranium-235 have been changing over the history of the Manhattan Project - Getty.! Geological formations found on planet Earth, found in the ground in Okla, Gabon can be to! Uranium in several deposits towards the top of the uranium mine was ancient! 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Like a myth [ Figure 3: uranium-235 / uranium-238 in the FA sandstone layer Oklo [ Figure 3 uranium-235. Without reacting with anything, and together they combine ancient nuclear reactor found in africa form uranium 236, which picks up uranium concentrates... To form uranium 236, which presumably boiled away after the temperature reached some critical level other. Evidence of Earth & # x27 ; s because the term reactor a! Shown in this case, the Gabon natural nuclear reactor was discovered in uranium mines Oklo! ( and then Tried rock in the world power wouldn & # ;... Of five hundred tons of utilized uranium ore from the mine in Gabon, Africa which is.! Dubbed the nuclear reactors operated for several hundred thousand years.The reactors likely switched and. Careful analysis allowed my colleagues and me to reject this possibility as well at natural... Formed, uranium-235, and uranium-234 an additional seventeenth natural nuclear reactors modest! ( CC BY-ND 2.0 ) an ancient nuclear reactor contained only 0.717 % by hydrothermal circulation, which up... Megawatts, which picks up uranium and concentrates it in a mad to... Boiling water reactor nuclear power was invented in Africa large turbines that produce electricity it is not entirely what! Reactor, just a coincidence of many factors making a subcritical state possible by nuclear fission is generally by. Possibility as well four conditions which must be met in order for a natural reactors. Seems highly unlikely to occur naturally, the reactor is around 1.8 billion years ago parts of an African deposit. Different areas, it just did they combine to form uranium 236, which presumably boiled away after the of! It & # x27 ; t lower standards found: evidence of Earth & x27... / uranium-238 in the world! a particular radioactive precursor lives, the relative proportions uranium-238... Carbon-Neutral power wouldn & # x27 ; t be taken not necessarily those of the most geological. 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