Determination of gold by isomeric-state excitation on a radial channel in the VVR-SM reactor

A precise method is proposed for determining high gold contents in samples of a given diameter but of different thicknesses, atomic masses and densities, for masses up to 120 g, which is based on exciting the isomeric state of gold via fast-neutron (n, n') reaction using the neutron spectrum from a radial channel in the VVR-SM reactor and measuring the intensity of the gamma line from /SUP 197m/ Au (E /SUB gamma/ = 277 keV, T /SUB 1/2/ = 7.4 sec.). The mass of gold is determined by comparing the intensities for the sample and a reference specimen via an expression. The relative standard deviation for gold contents over 500 mg is not more than 0.015, but it increases linearly to 0.33 as the content falls.