Activation analysis of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} samples at the RB reactor

The basis of performed measurements is the low-background gamma spectrometry that makes it possible to measure low activities induced by (n, {gamma}) reactions in low-flux neutron sources. This is the first time that activation analysis has given good results on a zero-power reactor. Although low-flux reactors are not conventionally used for neutron activation analysis (NAA), these results open a new field of investigation and material testing for communities that own only this type of reactor. In high-flux NAA on power reactors ({Phi} > 10{sup 13} n/CM{sup 2}{times}S), irradiated samples have a mass of {approximately} n {times} 10 mg, where n is any integer. The reduction of flux by low-flux irradiation is partially compensated for by increasing the mass of samples to a few grams. This increases the self-absorption in irradiations and measurements, which has no great significance when good standards exist. Thus, relative NAA is used in this experiment. The performed measurements have made it possible to determine the sensitivity of NAA using a flux of {approximately} 10{sup 7} n/CM{sup 2}{times}S for detecting different {open_quotes}impurities.{close_quotes}