Radiochemical purification of ³²P from sulphur target irradiated in KAMINI reactor

³²P is a pure β^- emitter with β^- max of 1.7 MeV and t_1/2 = 14.3 days. ³²P is being used in pain palliative care for metastatic bone cancer in the form of either Na₃³²PO₄ or H₃³²PO₄ and for the treatment of arthritis of knee joints using ³²P-labeled hydroxyapatite. ³²P can be produced either using the nuclear reaction ³¹P(n, γ)³²P by irradiating phosphorous in a thermal reactor or using ³²S(n,p)³²P by irradiating elemental sulphur or sulphur bearing compounds with fast neutrons. However, the latter method yields ³²P of high specific activity. ³²P can thus be produced in the Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) at IGCAR. This paper describes the development of a flow-sheet for the purification of ³²P produced using sulphur powder as the target by irradiating it with small fast flux available in the KAMINI research reactor at Kalpakkam. This method could be applied for the production of ³²P by irradiating sulphur target in FBTR subsequently