Thermal Cross Section And Resonance Integral Measurements Of 57Co(n,γ) 58Co Reaction

Abstract

The thermal cross section and resonance integral of the reaction 57Co(n,γ) 58Co have been determined experimentally. The irradiations were performed at the IEA-R1 research reactor operating at 2 MW. Aliquots of 57Co evaporated solution sealed inside quartz tubes were placed near the reactor core. All targets were irradiated together with a pair of Au-Al alloy foils, with and without Cd cover, in order to monitor the thermal and epithermal neutron fluxes by means of 197Au(n,γ)198Au reaction. Neutron fluence was determined using the Westcott formalism. The gamma-ray measurements were performed in a HPGe detector (35%), previously calibrated with standard sources. The detector efficiency curve was fitted by the least-squares method applying covariance analysis to all uncertainties involved. Since no other experimental result has been reported so far, the present result has been compared with estimates from the literature.