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Going Nuclear: Notes from the officially unofficial book tour
I work in the analytical labs at one of Europe’s oldest and largest nuclear sites: Sellafield, in northwestern England. I spend my days at the fume hood front, pipette in one hand and radiation probe in the other (and dosimeter pinned to my chest, of course). Outside the lab, I have a second job: I moonlight as a writer and public speaker. My new popular science book—Going Nuclear: How the Atom Will Save the World—came out last summer, and it feels like my life has been running at full power ever since.
K. J. Yost
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 32 | Number 1 | April 1968 | Pages 62-75
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE68-A18825
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A model suitable for the prediction of gamma-ray spectra subsequent to the capture of neutrons into nuclear states of identifiable spin and parity has been developed. The dependence of radiative transition probabilities on the nuclear selection rules is explicitly accounted for. Means are provided for allowing dipole and quadrupole transitions in conjunction with variations in the magnitudes of corresponding transition “matrix elements.” Comparisons are given between experimental capture spectra and corresponding spectra calculated with varying assumptions with respect to pertinent nuclear parameters for two capture states of 28Al and one of 25Mg. A comparison of calculated spectra using fitted and crudely approximated cascade parameters for the 28Al capture states indicates few, if any, differences that would significantly change resultant neutron-capture gamma-ray-production cross sections.