The 16 O( 3 He,d) 17 F reaction has been used to determine asymptotic normalization coefficients for transitions to the ground and first excited states of 17 F. The coefficients provide the normalization for the tails of the overlap functions for 17 F→ 16 Oϩp and allow us to calculate the S factors for 16 O(p,␥) 17 F at astrophysical energies. The calculated S factors are compared to measurements and found to be in very good agreement. This provides a test of this indirect method to determine astrophysical direct capture rates using transfer reactions. In addition, our results yield S(0) for capture to the ground and first excited states in 17 F, without the uncertainty associated with extrapolation from higher energies. ͓S0556-2813͑99͒00702-5͔ PACS number͑s͒: 25.40. Lw, 25.55.Hp, 26.20.ϩf, 27.20.ϩn

New measurements of the photoneutron reaction on 181 Ta have been conducted with the AIST-LCS ͑laser Compton scattering͒ beam in the 7.8ՇE͓MeV͔Շ12 energy range. The major advantage of the present ␥-ray experiment is its intense peaking in the energy window of astrophysical interest, i.e., close to the neutron threshold. Details on photon beams from the laser Compton scattering, neutron counting, and experimental determination of the 181 Ta photoneutron cross section are given. The present experimental data are in good agreement with the IAEA evaluation. Reaction rate calculations in the Hauser-Feshbach statistical model are performed and confronted with the experimental data. The data provide constraints on the low-energy tail of the dipole strength function. It is found that among the three different models for the E1-strength considered, only the microscopic quasiparticle random phase approximation model can reproduce the extra strength observed in the 181 Ta(␥,n) 180 Ta reaction at energies of about 8.5 MeV. Such an experiment helps to improve the determination of the corresponding stellar photodisintegration rate of

Photoneutron cross sections were measured for 94 Mo, 95 Mo, 96 Mo, 97 Mo, 98 Mo, and 100 Mo near the neutron threshold with quasi-monochromatic laser-Compton scattering γ rays. The photoneutron data were analyzed with the Skyrme Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (HFB) plus quasiparticle random phase approximation (QRPA) model and the axially symmetric-deformed Gogny HFB plus QRPA model of E1 γ -ray strength. Combining the γ -ray strength function constrained by the present photoneutron data with either the nuclear resonance fluorescence data or the updated Oslo data to supplement the data below the neutron threshold, a thorough analysis of the reverse (n,γ ) cross sections is made whenever measurements are available. The Oslo data and the corresponding uncertainties are updated based on the latest results of the s-wave neutron spacing and the average radiative width determined in particular for 96 Mo. Finally, radiative neutron capture cross sections for two radioactive nuclei, 93 Mo and 99 Mo, are deduced with the γ -ray strength function method.