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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.
J. C. Hopkins, B. C. Diven
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 12 | Number 2 | February 1962 | Pages 169-177
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE62-A26055
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The ratio of neutron capture to fission cross sections, α, has been measured for U233, U235, and Pu239 at 9 incident neutron energies from 30 kev to 1000 kev. A pulsed and collimated neutron beam is passed through a target placed at the center of a large, cadmium-loaded, liquid scintillator. Capture and fission events are detected by means of their prompt gamma rays; elastic and inelastic scattering events are discarded because of their smaller pulse height. Fission is identified by the delayed pulses produced by capture in the scintillator of the fission neutrons. Corrections are applied for the fission events not followed by delayed neutron pulses and for the effect of background counts. This procedure yields values of 1 + α to an accuracy of 1 or 2%.