Half-Lives of ground states in Pm and Eu nuclei following the $^{154,152}$Sm (p,x) reactions at 25 MeV

The primary experiment was designed to study low/medium spin states in Sm nuclei following the $^{154,152}$Sm (p,x) reactions where x = d or t. During the experiment the Sm target was irradiated by a 25 MeV proton beam, provided by the K150 Cyclotron at Texas A\&M University, with an average beam current of $\sim 1$ nA for about one week. Following the experiment, residual radioactivity in the target was measured in the Environmental Radioactivity Laboratory at the University of Richmond using a 25\% efficiency coaxial Ge detector enclosed in a 6-inch thick Pb shield. The gamma ray spectra were internally calibrated using a $^{152}$Eu source and the energies of known gamma-rays from the target decays and from long lived environmental radioactivity. The decays of three long lived ($\sim$ 1 month or more) mass A $\sim$ 150 nuclei were identified ($^{148}$Sm, $^{148}$Eu, and $^{147}$Eu), and half lives for their beta-decay were (re)measured. Work is still in progress and preliminary results will be presented at the APS conference.