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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.
C. E. Dickerman, E. S. Sowa, J. H. Monaweck, A. Barsell
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 18 | Number 3 | March 1964 | Pages 319-328
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE64-A20052
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Experiments have been performed in-pile, using the Transient Reactor Test Facility, to study the meltdown behavior under transient heating of metallic Experimental Breeder Reactor-II fuel elements contained in stagnant sodium. Threshold of failure, modes of failure, and post-experiment distribution of fuel were obtained for a range of experimental conditions including uniform axial power and axial-power profile shaped to approximate a typical power profile of a fast-reactor core. Samples were exposed both with sodium initially at saturation conditions, and with sodium pressurized to inhibit boiling. Although the presence of stagnant sodium was found to modify qualitatively the results found previously for dry EBR-II samples, the changes were not great, and results were consistent with those for dry elements.