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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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What’s in your Dubai chocolate? Nuclear scientists test pistachios for toxins
For the uninitiated, Dubai chocolate is a candy bar filled with pistachio and tahini cream and crispy pastry recently popularized by social media influencers. While it’s easy to dismiss as a viral craze now past its peak, the nutty green confection has spiked global pistachio demand, and growers and processors are ramping up production. That means more pistachios need to be tested for aflatoxins—a byproduct of a common crop mold.
J. E. Bodine, I. J. Groce, J. Guon, L. A. Hanson
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 19 | Number 1 | May 1964 | Pages 1-7
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE64-A19784
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The oxidative decladding of UO2 fuels has been demonstrated on three-foot sections of unirradiated fuel rods and on eight-inch sections of fuel rods irradiated to 21,000 MWd/MTU. Decladding rates were unaffected by the extent of irradiation. Uranium dioxide which was unirradiated, irradiated, and with fissia added to simulate 100,000 MWd/MTU irradiation was declad at similar rates. The effect of pressure and temperature on decladding rates was determined. Puncturing the cladding greatly enhanced the rate and gave a coarser product. This product was not completely converted to U3O8 during oxidative decladding. Greater than 99.9% of the UO2 fuel was removed from the cladding. There was no detectable contamination of the product by the cladding material. Little or no fission-product or plutonium decontamination was observed. Dissolution rates for the declad product, in 50% nitric acid, were 20 times as fast as for the “as received” UO2 fuel.
