The Thermal-Neutron Capture Cross Section for the Production of ^108mAg

In reactor decommissioning calculations, the production of 127-yr ^108mAg from trace amounts of silver in the stainless-steel structure of the reactor is very significant. The thermal (2200-ms⁻¹)-neutron capture cross section of ¹⁰⁷Ag for the production of metastable ^108mAg was measured as 0.366 ± 0.065 b, where the uncertainty is nearly all due to the half-life. The ratios of the resonance integrals to the thermal-neutron capture cross sections for the formation of ^108mAg and ^110mAg were also determined.