The internal surrogate ratio method allows for the determination of an unknown cross section, such as (n,y), relative to a better-known cross section, such as (n,f), by measuring the relative exitchannel probabilities of a surrogate reaction that proceeds through the same compound nucleus. The validity of the internal surrogate ratio method is tested by comparing the relative gamma and fission exit-channel probabilities of a 236U* compound nucleus, formed in the 235U(d,p) reaction, to the known 235U(n,y) and (n,f) cross sections. A model-independent method for measuring the gamma-channel yield is presented and used. PACS numbers: 24.87.+y, 24.75.+i, 24.50.+g, 25.85.Ge

K-isomers occur in deformed, axially-symmetric nuclei, (where K is the projection of the total angular momentum on the symmetry axis). K-isomers have been observed in A~130 and A~180 regions. High-K states are also predicted to occur near A=250 in the deformed trans-fermium region. So far there has been relatively little structure information on nuclei in this region of the chart of nuclides due to small production cross sections. However, recent experiments have studied the decay of high-K isomers in 252,254No yielding important information on these multi-quasiparticle states. I will describe our recent identification of high-K isomeric states in 256Rf. Nuclei of interest were produced via the 208Pb(50Ti, 2n)256Rf reaction at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory?s 88-Inch Cyclotron and the decay was studied at the focal plane of the Berkeley Gas-filled Separator (BGS).