Activation analysis of Si, Al and Fe in bauxites with the use of fast neutrons

A neutron generator with an integral output of 1x1010 n/s and a scintillation gamma spectrometer with a NaI(Tl) crystal were used for activation analysis of Si, Al, and Fe in bauxites. The effect of the competing reactions and fluctuations in the neutron flux during irradiation was taken into account by introducing the appropriate corrections into the computational formulas. Taking errors into account it has been possible to determine the concentrations of the elements in the specimens with an accuracy actually equal to that of determining the areas of the gamma spectrum peaks (< 1% for Si and Al, and 2-3% for Fe)