First fission mass yield measurements using SPIDER at LANSCE

Robust measurements of fission product properties, including mass yields, are important for advancing our understanding of the complex fission process and as improved inputs to calculation and simulation efforts in nuclear applications. The SPIDER detector, located at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE), is a recently developed mass spectrometer aimed at measuring fission product mass yields with high resolution as a function of incident neutron energy and product mass, charge, and kinetic energy. The prototype SPIDER detector has been assembled, tested, installed at the Lujan Center at LANSCE, and taken initial thermal neutron induced measurements. The first results of mass yields for spontaneous fission of $^{252}$Cf and thermal neutron-induced fission of $^{235}$U measured with SPIDER will be presented. Ongoing upgrades and future plans for SPIDER will also be discussed. This work is in part supported by LANL Laboratory Directed Research and Development Projects 20110037DR and 20120077DR. LA-UR-14-24830.