Development of a titanium tungstate-based 188W/188Re gel generator using tungsten of natural isotopic abundance

Abstract

The feasibility of developing titanium tungstate-based 188W/188Re gel generator using tungsten of natural isotopic abundance irradiated in a moderate flux reactor has been investigated. Influence of temperature, pH and eluent concentration on generator performance was studied. It was found that ‘‘post-formed’’ approach allows to construct gel generators with elution performance and 188Re elution yields very close to those of conventional alumina 188W/188Re generator. Curie-level 185W radionuclidic impurity presents a challenge during the processing of target material and subsequent elution of the generator. In the future use of semi-enriched with 186W target material (50–60% enrichment) would be beneficial in the development of titanium tungstate-based 188W/188Re gel generators. 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.