Total Kinetic Energy and Mass Yield Curves from the Fast Neutron-Induced Fission of $^{\mathrm{239}}$Pu
ORAL
Abstract
The total kinetic energy (TKE) release in fission constitutes the bulk of the energy released (Q$_{\mathrm{f}} \quad \approx $ 200 MeV). While TKE release in the $^{\mathrm{239}}$Pu(n,f) reaction was previously measured from 0.5 to 50 MeV (Phys. Rev. C \textbf{94}, 034611 (2016)), the highest energies in the evolution of TKE(E$_{\mathrm{n}})$ were puzzling. Notably, there was a high incident neutron energy flattening of TKE from E$_{\mathrm{n}} \quad =$ 30 to 50 MeV, contra the clear trend of decreasing TKE observed in the range of 0 to 30 MeV. Presented herein are measurements of TKE in $^{\mathrm{239}}$Pu(n,f) from E$_{\mathrm{n}} \quad =$ 2.5 to 100 MeV using PIN detectors, mass-yield curves using the 2E-method, and discussions of the symmetric fission contribution to TKE at high energies.
*This material is based upon work supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics under award number DE-FG-06-97ER41026 (OSU) and under contract 89233218CNA000001 (LANL). University collaborators acknowledge support from this work from the DOE-NNSA Stewardship Science Academic Alliances Program under Grant No. DE-NA0003907. This research benefited from the use of the LANSCE accelerator facility. Nuclides used in this research were supplied by the United States Department of Energy Office of Science by the Isotope Program in the Office of Nuclear Physics.
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