Why temperature-dependent fission barriers should not be included in statistical model calculations.

The reduced nuclear density in the surface layer of a nucleus gives rise to an increase in the level density parameter and also makes the fission barrier of the nucleus temperature dependent. The manner in which these effects can be consistently incorporated in the transition state formalism for statistical model calculations is discussed. The naive replacement of zero temperature with temperature-dependent fission barriers in the standard formula to obtain the level density at the saddle-point configuration is incorrect.