http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/20122110005
Thermal Neutron Capture onto the Stable Tungsten Isotopes
A.M. Hurst1a, R.B. Firestone1, B.W. Sleaford2, N.C. Summers2, Zs. Revay3, L. Szentmiklósi3, T. Belgya3, M.S. Basunia1, R. Capote4, H. Choi5, D. Dashdorj2,6, J. Escher2, M. Krticka7 and A. Nichols4
1 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
2 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94551, USA
3 Institute of Isotopes and Surface Chemistry, H-1525, Budapest, Hungary
4 NAPC-Nuclear Data Section, International Atomic Energy Agency, A-1400 Vienna, Austria
5 Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea
6 North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
7 Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, CZ-180 00 Prague 8, Czech Republic
a e-mail: AMHurst@lbl.gov
Published online: 14 February 2012
Thermal neutron-capture measurements of the stable tungsten isotopes have been carried out using the guided thermal-neutron beam at the Budapest Reactor. Prompt singles spectra were collected and analyzed using the HYPERMET γ-ray analysis software package for the compound tungsten systems 183W, 184W, and 187W, prepared from isotopically-enriched samples of 182W, 183W, and 186W, respectively. These new data provide both confirmation and new insights into the decay schemes and structure of the tungsten isotopes reported in the Evaluated Gamma-ray Activation File based upon previous elemental analysis. The experimental data have also been compared to Monte Carlo simulations of γ-ray emission following the thermal neutron-capture process using the statistical-decay code DICEBOX. Together, the experimental cross sections and modeledfeeding contribution from the quasi continuum, have been used to determine the total radiative thermal neutron-capture cross sections for the tungsten isotopes and provide improved decay-scheme information for the structural- and neutron-data libraries.
© Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2012