An Assessment of g-ray Emission Probabilities in the Decay of 238U
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64296/vijir.v2i1.03Keywords:
238U decay, Gamma-ray emission probability, Alpha emission probabilitAbstract
We have deduced the 49.55- and 113.6-keV g-ray emission probabilities in the decay of 238U from the intensity balance of a and g transitions feeding and depopulating the levels of 234Th. The deduced value of the 49.55-keV g-ray emission probability is in good agreement with most of the data available in the literature. A precision of 1.4% has been obtained, which is significantly better compared to the earlier values. The 113.6 g-ray emission probability of this work is in excellent agreement with one of the literature values, however, the precision of 14% remains comparable to the earlier one. This work highlights the need to remeasure the emission probability of the 49.55-keV g ray to obtain a high-confidence measurement, given that there is significant spread in the current data by as much as 10%. From this work, we also recommend to remeasure the energy of the 49.55-keV g ray for improved reconciliation between the deduced and directly measured data.
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