Neutron Multiplicities in the Actinides

Accurate measurements of prompt, scission, and pre-equilibrium neutron multiplicities from the nuclear fission process are of great importance to nuclear technology. The variation of these quantities with mass division, the excitation energy of the fissioning system E*, and the kinetic energy release to the fragments sheds light on the partition of energy during the large scale collective motion of the scission process. While some systems have been characterized very well, many others remain unknown. Instead of using the (n,f) reaction, we are using the surrogate (d,pf) reaction. Measurements performed recently at the CENPA yielded information on the $^{237-239}$U, $^{236-239}$Np, and $^{240}$Pu fissioning systems. Analysis is in progress.