Determination of neutron cross section of 187W for produtction of 188W

In this study, it was aimed to produce 188W through double neutron capture of 186W and measurement of thermal neutron capture cross section of 187W in this reaction. Neutron capture cross section of 186W(n,γ)187W reaction is well known. However, in contrast to well-known thermal neutron capture cross section of 186W(n,γ)187W reaction, the neutron capture cross section of 186W(n,γ)187W (n,γ)188W reaction is ambiguous. The thermal neutron capture cross section of 187W is 64 b in the literature. However, this value is higher than the activity values obtained from the experimental results when used in the theoretical activity calculations. In my thesis study, empirical calculations were first made with the IsoChain program and various curves were obtained for different 187W's neutron capture cross section values. Three small 186WO3 targets have been fabricated for 1, 5, and 10-day irradiations in the High Flux Isotope Reactor. It was observed that the activities of the irradiated samples for 1, 5, and 10 days were fit on the curve generated for the 11 b value by the curve-fitting method. As a result of this experiment, the thermal neutron capture cross section value of 187W was determined as 11 b.