The observation of $^{26}$Al gives us the proof of active nucleosynthesis in the Milky Way. However the identification of the main producers of $^{26}$Al is still a matter of debate. Many sites have been proposed, but our poor knowledge of the nuclea
r processes involved introduces high uncertainties. In particular, the limited accuracy on the $^{25}$Mg($alpha$,n)$^{28}$Si reaction cross section has been identified as the main source of nuclear uncertainty in the production of $^{26}$Al in C/Ne explosive burning in massive stars, which has been suggested to be the main source of $^{26}$Al in the Galaxy. We studied this reaction through neutron spectroscopy at the CN Van de Graaff accelerator of the Legnaro National Laboratories. Thanks to this technique we are able to discriminate the ($alpha$,n) events from possible contamination arising from parasitic reactions. In particular, we measured the neutron angular distributions at 5 different beam energies (between 3 and 5 MeV) in the ang{17.5}-ang{106} laboratory system angular range. The presented results disagree with the assumptions introduced in the analysis of a previous experiment.
An increasing demand of environmental radioactivity monitoring comes both from the scientific community and from the society. This requires accurate, reliable and fast response preferably from portable radiation detectors. Thanks to recent improvemen
ts in the technology, $gamma$-spectroscopy with sodium iodide scintillators has been proved to be an excellent tool for in-situ measurements for the identification and quantitative determination of $gamma$-ray emitting radioisotopes, reducing time and costs. Both for geological and civil purposes not only $^{40}$K, $^{238}$U, and $^{232}$Th have to be measured, but there is also a growing interest to determine the abundances of anthropic elements, like $^{137}$Cs and $^{131}$I, which are used to monitor the effect of nuclear accidents or other human activities. The Full Spectrum Analysis (FSA) approach has been chosen to analyze the $gamma$-spectra. The Non Negative Least Square (NNLS) and the energy calibration adjustment have been implemented in this method for the first time in order to correct the intrinsic problem related with the $chi ^2$ minimization which could lead to artifacts and non physical results in the analysis. A new calibration procedure has been developed for the FSA method by using in situ $gamma$-spectra instead of calibration pad spectra. Finally, the new method has been validated by acquiring $gamma$-spectra with a 10.16 cm x 10.16 cm sodium iodide detector in 80 different sites in the Ombrone basin, in Tuscany. The results from the FSA method have been compared with the laboratory measurements by using HPGe detectors on soil samples collected in the different sites, showing a satisfactory agreement between them. In particular, the $^{137}$Cs isotopes has been implemented in the analysis since it has been found not negligible during the in-situ measurements.
