Production Cross Section of N⁶ and N¹⁷¹

The gamma-ray dose rate and the fast neutron flux have been measured in air from a source of water shortly after irradiation in the Materials Testing Reactor. Gamma rays from N¹⁶ and neutrons from N¹⁷ have been detected. From the measurements and the known geometry, the cross sections for the O¹⁶ (n, p) N¹⁶ and the O¹⁷(n, p) N¹⁷ reactions averaged over the fission neutron spectrum have been deduced to be 0.019 mb and 0.0052 mb, respectively. The results are compared with other measured values and theoretical estimates.