Purification of recovered tellurium dioxide for re-use in iodine radioisotope production.

In the production of radioiodine via charged particle activation of isotopically enriched TeO2 and subsequent heating of the irradiated target, some TeO2 is lost. Again, use of recovered TeO2 for radioiodine production showed that impurities are present, which prevent complete volatilization of radioiodine from the heated target. An effective purification procedure for recovered TeO2 has been developed, resulting in a yield of 95-97%. The procedure developed may also be used to purify Te metal.