Radioxenon standards used in laboratory inter-comparisons

Preparation methods for ¹³³Xe standards of activity concentration and the results of the 2014 ¹³³Xe laboratory inter-comparison exercise are described. One element of the quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) program for laboratories of the International Monitoring System (IMS) will be regular inter-comparison exercises. However, until recently, no activity concentration standards for benchmarking were available. Therefore, two ¹³³Xe activity concentration reference standards were produced independently by Idaho National Laboratory and Seibersdorf Laboratories and used for the 2014 laboratory inter-comparison exercise. The preparation of a complementary ¹²⁷Xe activity concentration standard as well as a ¹²⁷Xe laboratory inter-comparison exercise suggests ¹²⁷Xe as a suitable isotope for QA/QC of remote IMS noble gas stations. - Highlights: • Development of two independent ¹³³Xe activity concentration standards. • Traceability to international reference standards established. • Good agreement of the two ¹³³Xe activity concentration standards. • Xe-127 shows to be a suitable isotope for QA/QC of remote IMS noble gas systems.