Recovery of enriched 186W from spent 188W/188Re generators

A simple method for desorption, precipitation and reuse of tungsten from spent 188W/188Re generators is described. The alumina column was washed with 0.9% saline and the tungsten desorbed with 15 cm3 5 M NaOH containing 1 cm3 of H2O2 (35%). The H2O2 was boiled off and the WO3 was precipitated by addition of sodium tungstate to the solution in HCl. Impurities were determined by neutron activation analysis.