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Someone else questioned my answer on this as well. Click to see my response.
Here's what the docs say:
32-bit/64-bit Information:
Starting with Oracle9i, the Server is always in 64-bit mode and ships with both a 32-bit and 64-bit Client Libraries. If the Server product is 64-bit then 64-bit hardware (processors) is required.
And, from Metalink Note 231901.1:
The kernel can be in either 32-bit mode or 64-bit mode. No patch is required to use Oracle 8.1.7 and or Oracle 9.2.0 on the former. Patch 2896876 is required if Oracle8i is going to be used on the latter. The Oracle 9.2.0 version for AIX 5L, on the other hand, does not use any such 32-bit kernel extensions, and therefore can run in either of the kernel modes. So, we can run Oracle 9.2.0 in either 32-bit or 64-bit kernel modes.
My experience has been in installing and using Oracle9i with an OS kernel in 32-bit mode.
Hope that helps.
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