Strutinsky-type calculations indicate that the potential energy favors four channels in the nuclear fission of 252Cf. The connection of this finding with experimental results on the distribution of fragment mass, total kinetic energy, neutron multiplicities, and relative abundances is discussed. Similar calculations for 227Ac, 236U, and 258Fm show that the changing preponderance of the four channels seems to describe striking trends in the fission of the actinides, in particular the dip in the total kinetic energy at symmetrical fission of 236U and the enormously high average kinetic energy of the 258Fm fragments.
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