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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.
J. K. Dickens
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 50 | Number 2 | February 1973 | Pages 98-107
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE73-A23233
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Interactions of neutrons with sodium have been studied by measuring gamma-ray-production cross sections. Spectra were obtained for incident mean neutron energies En = 4.85, 5.4, 5.9, 6.45, 7.0, and 7.5 MeV. Data were obtained at angles of 125 and 55 deg using Ge(Li) detectors. Time-of-flight was used to discriminate against pulses due to neutrons and background radiation.Absolute cross sections for production of gamma rays were obtained for the incident neutron energies quoted above. The data have been compared with previous inelastic neutron scattering results and evaluated cross sections, with good agreement. The spectra were studied for gamma rays which could be associated with deexcitation of nuclear levels having unknown decay modes. Gamma rays were found having energies appropriate for decay of levels at excitation energies Ex = 5762, 5934, 5967, 6115, 6576, and 6866 keV.