Study of induced activity of 167Ho from different neutron capture paths

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to predict the induced activity of 167Ho produced by 165Ho(n,γ)166mHo(n,γ)167Ho, 165Ho(n,γ)166Ho(n,γ)167Ho and 166mHo(n,γ)167Ho reactions to choose the best path to measure the cross section with lowest uncertainty. The activation and decay scheme was established starting from the 165Ho target and considering single, double and triple neutron capture reactions. The activity results were deduced from differential activation equations and decay rates for all reaction products. The calculations were performed considering samples which were taken from a stock solution supplied by the Electrotechnical Laboratory (Japan) for purposes of an international comparison.