The neutron capture cross sections of the radioactive isotope 182 Hf (t 1/2 = 8.9 × 10 6 yr) in the thermal and epithermal energy regions have been measured by activation at the TRIGA Mark-II reactor of the Atomic Institute of the Austrian Universities in Vienna, Austria, and subsequent γ -ray spectroscopy of 183 Hf. High values for the thermal (kT = 25 meV) cross section σ 0 = 133 ± 10 b and for the resonance integral I 0 = 5850 ± 660 b were found. Additionally, the absolute intensities of the main γ -ray transitions in the decay of 182 Hf have been considerably improved.