Mass and kinetic energy distributions in near-barrier fission of W182

Mass and kinetic energy distributions have been measured for the fission of $^{182}\mathrm{W}$ at an excitation energy above the fission barrier ${E}^{*}\ensuremath{-}{E}_{f}\ensuremath{\approx}20$ MeV. A primary motivation for these studies was to search for evidence of asymmetric mass division and anomalously low total kinetic energy release, as predicted by scission-point model calculations which include deformed (Strutinsky) shell effects. Double kinetic energy measurements of coincident fission fragments were performed, from which fragment mass distributions were derived. From the data it is concluded that at this excitation energy, liquid-drop behavior dominates the fission of $^{182}\mathrm{W}$ and any shell strength, if present, is less than 20 percent of full strength.