WAV files and MP3 files are just different types of sound files, just like TXT files and DOC files are different types of documents. Just like a word processor such as Microsoft Word can open a file of one type (e.g., TXT) and save the file as another (e.g., HTML, DOC, RTF), a music editor can do the same thing with music files.
In CoolEdit 2000, for example, you "Open" the MP3 file, then do a "Save As" and select type "PCM raw data (*.wav)" to get a WAV file.