Low-level laboratory measurement of xenon radionuclides: Electron-photon versus photon measurements

Radioactive xenon (mainly 131mXe, 133Xe, 133mXe and 135Xe) are tracked as markers of nuclear weapons testing. The CEA has developed the PIPSBox, a measurement cell able to detect electrons emitted by xenon nuclides. Combined with an ultra-low background γ spectrometer, electron detection capacities allow reaching minimum detectable activities (MDA) for a 3-day long measurement of about 0.5 mBq for the four xenon radionuclides. Compared to a classical measurement cell, MDAs are improved by a factor of 2-4.