Editing Samarium (section)

===Neutron absorber===
Samarium-149 has a high [[neutron capture cross section|cross section for neutron capture]] (41,000&nbsp;[[barn (unit)|barns]]) and so is used in control rods of [[nuclear reactor]]s. Its advantage compared to competing materials, such as boron and cadmium, is stability of absorption – most of the fusion products of {{sup|149}}Sm are other isotopes of samarium that are also good [[neutron absorber]]s. For example, the cross section of samarium-151 is 15,000&nbsp;barns, it is on the order of hundreds of barns for {{sup|150}}Sm, {{sup|152}}Sm, and {{sup|153}}Sm, and 6,800&nbsp;barns for natural (mixed-isotope) samarium.<ref name="CRC" /><ref name="LA2" /><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110706160607/http://www-nds.ipen.br/sgnucdat/b3.pdf Thermal neutron capture cross sections and resonance integrals – Fission product nuclear data]. ipen.br</ref>