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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
Standards Program
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.
KArl H. Puechl
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 12 | Number 2 | February 1962 | Pages 151-156
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE62-A26052
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The influence of plutonium as a fuel constituent on burner reactor behavior is examined. Both the SM-1 and the Shippingport seed lattices are investigated. It is found that the decrease in the effective absorption cross section of Pu240 with fuel burnup gives the plutonium the characteristic of a self-compensating fuel, thereby leading to the extension of core life with minimum shim control requirements. The illustrated behavior is similar to that which was previously shown to be possible for converter-type reactors (1).
