Measurements of neutron capture cross-section for nuclides of interest in decommissioning (II): 58 Fe(n,γ) 59 Fe

As nuclear facilities are dismantled in decommissioning, large amounts of various waste are generated. Even more inconveniently, such waste is radioactive due to neutron activation. Thus, the neutron capture cross-sections of nuclides targeted in decommissioning are required to evaluate the radioactivity produced. In this work, 58Fe nuclide was selected among objective nuclides for decommissioning, and its thermal-neutron capture cross-section was measured by a neutron activation method at the graphite thermal column of Kyoto University Research Reactor in 5-MW operation. The thermal-neutron capture cross-section was derived using Westcott's convention. The present work obtained 1.36 ± 0.03 barns for the58Fe(n,γ)59Fe reaction. The present result supports the JENDL-5 evaluation within 2σ. If updated with currently recommended nuclear data, some of the reported past data would support the present result.