Neutron Yield from the Spontaneous Fission of 252Cf (bar nu)
Abstract
The average number of neutrons (bar nu) emitted per fission event in the spontaneous fission of 252Cf has been determined by separate absolute measurements of the fission rate and the neutron emission rate per mg of a solution of californium chloride. The fission rate was determined by a hitherto untried method based on fission-fission coincidences, and the neutron emission rate was determined by the well-known manganese sulphate bath technique. The measurements were carried out during the period 1968 to 1972, and several provisional values of bar nu have been released from time to time. The results have now been subjected to a rigorous statistical treatment in which correlations were treated by covariance matrices.
The value for bar nu(total) for 252Cf is (3.7509+/-0.0107) neutrons per fission. This value supersedes all previously released provisional values.- Publication:
-
Metrologia
- Pub Date:
- January 1985
- DOI:
- 10.1088/0026-1394/21/2/003
- Bibcode:
- 1985Metro..21...59A