Radioactive noble-gas isotopes, SSKr （half-life tl/2=10.8 y）, 39Ar （tl/2=269 y）, and SlKr （t1/2-229,000 y）, are ideal tracers and can be detected by atom trap trace analysis （ATTA）, a laser-based technique, from environmental samples like air and groundwater. Prior to ATTA measurements, it is necessary to efficiently extract krypton and argon gases from samples. Using a combination of cryogenic distillation, titanium chemical reaction and gas chromatography, we demonstrate that we can recover both krypton and argon gases from 1-10 L ＂air-like＂ samples with yields in excess of 90% and 98%, respectively, which meet well the requirements for ATTA measurements. A group of testing samples are analyzed to verify the performance of the system, including two groundwater samples obtained from north China plain.
