SEARCH FOR SUCCESSIVE NEUTRON CAPTURE REACTIONS ON Mg²⁶, Si³⁰, AND Cr⁵⁴

Abstract

Stable nuclides exposed to intense neutron fluxes may produce second order reactions by successive capture of two neutrons. This method has been applied in the present work in an attempt to determine the pile neutron capture cross section of three unstable nuclides, namely: Mg 27 , Si 31 , and Cr 55 . A maximum value of 0.04 barn has been obtained for the cross section of Mg 27 . Assuming that Si 32 and Cr 56 are long-lived, minimal ratios of 600 and 270 years/barn respectively were obtained for [Formula: see text]