The238U(e,α)e'234Th cross section

Abstract
The unexpectedly large cross section reported by Wolynec et al. (1976) for the 238U(e, alpha )e'234Th reaction has been investigated. Using an activation method the cross section is found to be lower by a factor of at least 6 and the results of a direct alpha-particle counting experiment suggest a factor of at least 20. It is concluded that the alpha-decay mode can, at most, exhaust only a few per cent of the isoscalar energy-weighted sum rule for the giant quadrupole resonance.