Neutron Activation Analysis of Candidate Materials for High-Temperature Reactors

A neutron activation study has been performed through exposing potential cladding materials for high-temperature reactors to neutrons at the low power research reactor of Saskatchewan Research Council in Saskatoon of Canada. These cladding materials included Stainless Steel (SS) 304, Alloy 600, and E-Brite. The activated samples were analyzed for induced activities of chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), and molybdenum (Mo) by high-resolution energy spectroscopy of the characteristic gamma rays. (n, γ) transmission rates of selected isotopes have been established from the intensities of the characteristic lines.