14.8 MeV neutron activation cross-section measurements of a few tellurium isotopes

The activation cross-sections of the (n, 2n) and (n, α) products of different tellurium isotopes for 14.8 MeV neutrons have been measured. Enriched isotopes were used to determine the (n, 2n) cross-sections of the 9.36 h Te127 and of the 67.5 min Te129 and 33 d Te129∗ activities relative to the known Al27 (n, p)Mg27 cross-section. By means of chemical separation, the 27 h Sn121, 39.7 min Sn123 and 2.45 h Sn127 activities were compared amongst themselves in tellurium-free samples. The three tin cross-sections were finally obtained from the decay analyses of quickly separated Sn-products by comparing with the 67.5 min Te129 residual activity as internal standard. The 9.7 min Sn125 cross-section was also determined. A hitherto unreported activity ≈ 2 min was noticed.