Microscopic Calculations of 240Pu Fission

Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov calculations have been performed with the Gogny finite-range effective interaction for {sup 240}Pu out to scission, using a new code developed at LLNL. A first set of calculations was performed with constrained quadrupole moment along the path of most probable fission, assuming axial symmetry but allowing for the spontaneous breaking of reflection symmetry of the nucleus. At a quadrupole moment of 345 b, the nucleus was found to spontaneously scission into two fragments. A second set of calculations, with all nuclear moments up to hexadecapole constrained, was performed to approach the scission configuration in a controlled manner. Calculated energies, moments, and representative plots of the total nuclear density are shown. The present calculations serve as a proof-of-principle, a blueprint, and starting-point solutions for a planned series of more comprehensive calculations to map out a large set of scission configurations, and the associated fission-fragment properties