Cross sections for thermal neutron capture by ¹⁸⁰W and ¹⁸⁴W

Highlights: • Radiative capture cross sections of ^180,184W measured relative to ¹⁸⁶W. • Thermal cross sections determined after corrections for epithermals. • ¹⁸⁶W cross sections for normalization corrected for latest γ-ray branching. • ¹⁸⁷W half-life determined to be 23.80 ± 0.03 h. - Abstract: Based on activation measurements with W targets of natural isotopic abundance, the cross sections for thermal neutron capture by ¹⁸⁰W and ¹⁸⁴W have been determined by comparing the activities of ¹⁸¹W and ¹⁸⁵W after activation with that of ¹⁸⁷W. Relative to the known cross sections for capture by ¹⁸⁶W, after correction of the latter for changes in the recommended γ-ray branching intensities, the values of the thermal cross sections have been determined to be 22.7(16) b for capture by ¹⁸⁰W and 1.60(11) b for ¹⁸⁴W. The half-life of ¹⁸⁷W was re-determined to be 23.80(3) h.