  Upon increasing significantly the nuclear elongation, the beta-decay energy
grows. This paper investigates within a simple yet partly microscopic approach,
the transition rate of the beta decay of the 252Cf nucleus on the way to
scission from the exit point for a spontaneous fission process. A rather crude
classical approximation is made for the corresponding damped collective motion
assumed to be one dimensional. Given these assumptions, we only aim in this
paper at providing the order of magnitudes of such a phenomenon. At each
deformation the energy available for beta decay, is determined from such a
dynamical treatment. Then, for a given elongation, transition rates for the
allowed (Fermi) beta decay are calculated from pair correlated wave functions
obtained within a macroscopic-microscopic approach and then integrated over the
time corresponding to the whole descent from exit to scission. The results are
presented as a function of the damping factor (inverse of the characteristic
damping time) in use in our classical dynamical approach. For instance, in the
case of a descent time from the exit to the scission points of about $10^{-
20}$ second, one finds a total rate of beta decay corresponding roughly to 20
events per year and per milligram of 252Cf. The inclusion of pairing
correlations does not affect much these results.

Nuclear Theory