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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.
R. E. Chrien, H. I. Liou, M. J. Kenny, M. L. Stelts
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 72 | Number 2 | November 1979 | Pages 202-215
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE79-A19464
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The cross sections for neutron interactions with thorium targets were measured at several energies. Capture cross sections at 0.0253 eV and at 2 and 24.3 keV were measured by activation techniques. Transmission measurements were made from 10 to 100 eV, and capture cross sections were determined from 0.03 to 15 eV by recording discrete lines for the (n,γ) spectrum. The measured thermal cross section is 7.41 ± 0.08 b, at 2 keV the cross section is 1.96 ± 0.10 b, and at 24.3 keV it is 0.540 ± 0.014 b. These values are reported relative to an assumed 231Pa branching ratio of 38.5% for the 311-keV gamma ray, and they do not include the branching ratio error. The results are fitted to R-matrix parameters. The transmission and (n,γ) measurements lead to parameters that give a somewhat higher epithermal capture than previously expected in thorium. This result brings the differential data into better agreement with experiments on subcritical assemblies.