Abstract:The y-radiation has been investigated produced by thermal neutron capture in a natural Fe sample and in a sample enriched in 5sFe. Of the 253 y-rays ascribed to the 56Fe(n, y)"Fe reaction, 19 1 have been placed in the 57Fe level scheme (of which 124 placements are new); of the 138 y-rays observed in the 58Fe(n, y)s9Fe reaction 68 have been placed (with 55 new placements). Excitation energies (with 0.02-0.7 keV error) and branching ratios have been determined of 60 bound levels in S7Fe and of 27 in 59Fe The Q-values of the s6,"Fe(n, y) reactions amount to 7646.OkO.2 and 6581.0+0.2 keV, respectively. One can conclude that J = 3 for the 2836 keV level in 57Fe, and that J" = +-for the 2570, 3072, 3104, 3160 and 3384 keV levels in 59Fe.A shell-model calculation has been performed with up to two holes in the If,,, sub-shell and particles in the 2p,,,, If,,, and 2p,,, sub-shells. The energies of low-lying ". 58, s9Fe states are reproduced with a mean deviation of 0.17 MeV. The surface-delta interaction appears superior over the Kuo-Brown interaction in explaining the electromagnetic properties of the lowest six states of "Fe. E NUCLEAR REACTIONS s6. s*Fe(n, y), E = thermal; measured E,, I?; deduced Q. 57, 59Fe levels deduced E,, y-branching, J". Enriched and natural targets.