Measurement of spontaneous-fission decay constant of²³⁸U with a mica solid state track detector

Abstract

Abstract The spontaneous-fission decay constant, λ f , of 238U is a basic parameter of interest in fields ranging from cosmochronology to reactor physics. Over the years, a number of determinations have been made, yielding a series of values which differ by a factor of two between the extremes, viz. (5.3 ± 0.9) × 10−17 yr−1 found by Perfilov1 and (11.9 ± 1.0) × 10−17 yr−1 measured by Gerling et al 2. It was therefore decided to make a fresh measurement of λ f using the fission track analysis technique.