Neutron Activation of Engelmann Spruce

Under neutron bombardment, wood becomes radioactive. Englemann spruce was ground in a Wiley mill and placed in the core of a nuclear reactor operating a a power of 10 kilowatts. The only primary photo-electric peak occurred as 0.85 Mev. It was concluded that the radioactive isotope being counted was Mn56. It was determined that 30 percent of the countable radiation fell under the 0.85 Mev photo-electric peak. The specific activity of the specimen was approximately 2.5 microcuries per gram of wood: this high intensity masks all other mineral trace elements from detection by this method.

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