SPALAX NG: A breakthrough in radioxenon field measurement.

Lessons-learned from 10 years of noble gas stations operation and dedicated R&D allowed the design of a New Generation of station. In order to produce 60m3 air equivalent Xenon samples every 8h, it implements: (i) larger sampler unit for Xenon extraction (2 compressors and 8 nitrogen membranes), (ii) new noble gas adsorbent (Ag@ZSM5), (iii) hardened components and (iv) new high resolution coincidence low background spectrometer (HPGe/PIPSBox). Station expected radioxenon sensitivity is lower than 0.3mBq/m3.

On the use of speciation techniques and ab initio modelling to understand tetravalent actinide behavior in a biological medium: An(IV)DTPA case.

In the case of an accidental nuclear event, contamination of human bodies by actinide elements may occur. Such elements have the particularity to exhibit both radiological and chemical toxicities that may induce severe damages at several levels, depending on the biokinetics of the element. In order to eliminate the actinide elements before they are stored in target organs (liver, kidneys, or bone, depending on the element), sequestering agents must be quickly injected. However, to date, there is still no ideal sequestering agent, despite the recent interest in this topic due to contamination concerns. DTPA (diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid) is currently generating interest for the development of oral or alternative self-administrable forms. Although biokinetics data are mostly available, molecular scale characterization of actinide-DTPA complexes is still scarce. Nevertheless, strong interest is growing in the characterization of An(IV)DTPA(-) complexes at the molecular level because this opens the way for predicting the stability constants of unknown systems or even for developing new analytical strategies aimed at better and more selective decorporation. For this purpose, Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) and Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics (AIMD) investigations were undertaken and compared with capillary electrophoresis (CE) used in a very unusual way. Indeed, it is commonly believed that CE is incapable of extracting structural information. In capillary electrophoresis, the electrophoretic mobility of an ion is a function of its charge and size. Despite very similar ratios, partial separations between An(IV)DTPA(-) species (An(IV) = Th, U, Np, Pu) were obtained. A linear relationship between the electrophoretic mobility and the actinide--oxygen distance calculated by AIMD was evidenced. As an example, the interpolated U-O distances in U(IV)DTPA(-) from CE-ICPMS experiments, EXAFS, AIMD, and the relationship between the stability constants and the ratio z/dAn-O, are all in agreement. This results in the capability to evaluate the stability constants for the formation of Pa(IV)DTPA(-), Am(IV)DTPA(-) or Bk(IV)DTPA(-).

Spalax™ new generation: A sensitive and selective noble gas system for nuclear explosion monitoring.

In the context of the verification regime of the Comprehensive nuclear Test ban Treaty (CTBT), CEA is developing a new generation (NG) of SPALAX™ system for atmospheric radioxenon monitoring. These systems are able to extract more than 6cm(3) of pure xenon from air samples each 12h and to measure the four relevant xenon radioactive isotopes using a high resolution detection system operating in electron-photon coincidence mode. This paper presents the performances of the SPALAX™ NG prototype in operation at Bruyères-le-Châtel CEA centre, integrating the most recent CEA developments. It especially focuses on an innovative detection system made up of a gas cell equipped with two face-to-face silicon detectors associated to one or two germanium detectors. Minimum Detectable activity Concentrations (MDCs) of environmental samples were calculated to be approximately 0.1 mBq/m(3) for the isotopes (131m)Xe, (133m)Xe, (133)Xe and 0.4 mBq/m(3) for (135)Xe (single germanium configuration). The detection system might be used to simultaneously measure particulate and noble gas samples from the CTBT International Monitoring System (IMS). That possibility could lead to new capacities for particulate measurements by allowing electron-photon coincidence detection of certain fission products.