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Gamma-ray emission probabilities of the daughters of /sup 238/U

Scott, H.L.; Marlow, K.W.

In the past several years a wealth of decay data has been obtained and reported, much of it in ''Decay Data of the Transactinium Nuclides'', IAEA Technical Reports Series No. 261 (1986). The decay data for the daughters of /sup 238/U have been notable by their absence in such compilations; and since there is a need for such data, a set of experiments has been performed to measure the gamma-ray emission probabilities. Uranium samples of known mass and isotopic concentration in aqueous solution are analyzed with a high-purity germanium gamma-ray spectrometer. Various samples have also in solution multi-line calibration sources with well-known relative intensities. The well-known emission probabilities of the /sup 235/U gamma rays are used to provide an absolute intensity reference. Since self-absorption of the sample is included in the effective detector efficiency, there is not need for a separate calculation of this absorption. Gamma-ray emission probabilities for the energy range 63 to 1938 keV are reported. Sources of error, including those in the efficiency curve, are discussed. 11 refs., 5 figs., 4 tabs.