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

Appl Radiat Isot. 2002 Nov;57(5):641-6. doi: 10.1016/s0969-8043(02)00178-1.

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.