Nuclear Core The Earth's core is a massive nuclear fission reactor. The core uses the process of nuclear fission to burn its fuel, uranium 235, into lighter elements or fission byproducts. This core is also responsible for producing much of the geological phenomena observed on Earth. Phenomena such as geomagnetism and the periodic shutdown of the Earth's magnetic field are examples of phenomena directly attributed to fission within the Earth. There is also substantial reason to believe that the center of the Earth is a massive nuclear reactor from the empirical data gathered from observations, tests, and logical evidence to support this idea. Traditional theory about the Earth's core suggests that the Earth's core is a solid sphere of nickel and iron surrounded by a fluid metallic magma. The Earth's rotation is believed to create huge columns of magma swirling in the core. These columns are believed to produce the Earth's magnetic field. This theory is based on the assumption that the Earth's core is cooling and will eventually cool down completely and stop producing energy and magnetic field. However, this theory does not answer many ongoing mysteries on Earth, such as why Earth's magnetic field periodically shuts down and questions about Earth's energy production. It was clear that a new theory was needed to explain the mystery of the Earth's core. The concept of nuclear fission within the earth began in the 1950s. Geophysicists began to wonder whether natural nuclear fission was possible. It seemed like it was a real possibility and eventually empirical evidence presented itself. In 1972, a natural nuclear fission reactor was discovered deep in the earth at the Oklo uranium mine in West Africa. It was later established that this reactor had been in operation for almost two million years (earth's core). The discovery provided an answer to the possibility of nuclear fission occurring naturally on earth. The answer was yes. This, however, led to further questions. What were the implications of such a process occurring naturally within the Earth? As time went on, scientists learned more about natural reactors and developed new theories. Through observing other planets and observing Earth in relation to the solar system, some bold new theories arose.