THE FISSION YIELDS OF THE CESIUM ISOTOPES FORMED IN THE THERMAL NEUTRON FISSION OF U235 AND THE NEUTRON ABSORPTION CROSS SECTION OF Xe135

Abstract

The absolute fission yields of the cesium isotopes occurring in the thermal neutron fission of U235 have been determined with a mass spectrometer using isotope dilution techniques. Values of 6.59%, 6.41%, and 6.15% have been obtained for the yields of Cs133, Cs135, and Cs137 respectively. The neutron absorption cross section of Xe135 has also been measured to be 866 times greater than that of B10 for a Maxwellian distribution of neutron velocities corresponding to a neutron temperature of 57 °C. This ratio gives a thermal neutron absorption cross section of 3.47 × 106 barns for Xe135 assuming it is a 1/ν detector.