Measurement of formation cross-section of 99Mo from the 98Mo(n,γ) and 100Mo(n,2n) reactions

The formation cross-section of medical isotope 99Mo from the 98Mo(n,γ) reaction at the neutron energy of 0.025 eV and from the 100Mo(n,2 n) reaction at the neutron energies of 11.9 and 15.75 MeV have been determined by using activation and off-line γ-ray spectrometric technique. The thermal neutron energy of 0.025 eV was used from the reactor critical facility at BARC, Mumbai, whereas the average neutron energies of 11.9 and 15.75 MeV were generated using 7Li(p,n) reaction in the Pelletron facility at TIFR, Mumbai. The experimentally determined cross-sections were compared with the evaluated nuclear data libraries of ENDF/B-VII.1, CENDL-3.1, JENDL-4.0 and JEFF-3.2 and are found to be in close agreement. The 100Mo(n,2n)99Mo reaction cross-sections were also calculated theoretically by using TALYS-1.8 and EMPIRE-3.2 computer codes and compared with the experimental data.