Measuring the α/SF Branching Ratio of 252Cf with the NIFFTE TPC

A fission TPC is being developed to measure the energy-dependent neutron induced fission cross sections of the major and minor actinides to an accuracy of better than 1%. Achieving such an accuracy will depend in part, on the ability of the TPC to provide precise tracking and identification of charged particles. A measurement of the α -decay to spontaneous fission branching ratio of 252 Cf used to benchmark the performance of the TPC will be discussed.