REACTOR NEUTRON-CAPTURE CROSS SECTION OF 18-MINUTE Rb88

Abstract
The reactor neutron-capture cross section of 18-minute Rb88 has been determined by an activation method. The yield of Rb89 formed by successive neutron capture in Rb87 was determined by counting the beta rays emitted by its daughter, 51-day Sr89. In these experiments Sr89 is also produced by the Sr88(n, γ)Sr89 reaction from the Sr88 contamination in the rubidium target and from Sr88 formed by the beta decay of Rb88. Corrections for the contributions from these sources to the yield of Sr89 have been measured experimentally. The reactor neutron-capture cross section of Sr88 has been measured to be 5.8 mb. for the conditions of the experiment. Taking 0.12 ± 0.3 barn for the thermal cross section of Rb87, the cross section of Rb88 was found to be 1.0 ± 0.3 barn for reactor neutrons.

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