Fluxnium, a U.S. clean-technology startup, says it can extract the nuclear element from seawater using specially engineered polymer fibers. The company’s method is based on a chemical technique licensed from Department of Energy laboratories.
The oceans hold roughly 4 billion tonnes of the element, which is a thousand times larger than all known land deposits and could supply power for 50 000 years, according to the company’s chief executive Jeff Green.
The United States aims to triple nuclear capacity by 2050. However, rising yellowcake prices, which have increased by 75 % in five years, and the absence of domestic mines have created supply pressure.
Fluxnium’s process involves treating the fibers to attract dissolved material, then later washing them to release it. The fibers are reused indefinitely, leaving no toxic waste, and the collected material is refined into yellowcake for the existing fuel chain.
Early lab versions of the process proved too costly, but the firm increased the fibers’ surface area, bringing extraction costs into line with conventional mining. This improvement has made the process more viable.
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In operation, long braided fibers are attached to buoys for 30 to 60 days. After retrieval, the fibers are reused, and the collected material is refined into yellowcake.
Compared with earlier marine mining trials that stalled due to economic concerns, this scale-up mirrors the efficiency gains seen in large-scale algae cultivation. This suggests that a repeatable, low-cost approach can finally make seawater a viable source.
The startup recently secured 7 million dollars in seed financing, led by Congruent Ventures with participation from Active Impact Investments and Constellation Energy, the operator of the nation’s largest nuclear park. This investment will help the company to further develop its technology.
AI firms building massive data centers have also shown renewed interest in stable nuclear power, adding market momentum to the effort to replace imported yellowcake. They are looking for a reliable source of energy to power their operations.
Once purified, the product joins the standard supply chain, providing a domestically sourced feedstock for reactors without creating additional hazardous waste. This is a significant advantage of Fluxnium’s process.