Startup Fluxnium Says Its Fiber Technology Can Pull Uranium From Seawater

A clean technology startup called Fluxnium has developed fibers designed to extract uranium directly from seawater, according to a report by TechCrunch.

The company says the ocean holds enough uranium to supply nuclear fuel for an extended period, with the report citing an estimate of roughly 50,000 years' worth of the material, or enough to power what TechCrunch described as "thousands of generations."

Uranium is naturally present in seawater in trace amounts, and researchers have explored methods to harvest it for decades due to the vastly larger quantity available in oceans compared to land-based mining reserves. Fluxnium's approach, as described in the report, centers on fiber-based materials capable of capturing the dissolved uranium.

The report did not provide detailed technical specifications of how the fibers function, nor did it disclose information about the company's funding, founders, timeline for commercialization, or independent verification of its extraction claims.

Extracting uranium from seawater has long been viewed by some in the nuclear energy sector as a potential way to secure a virtually inexhaustible fuel supply, though the process has historically faced challenges related to cost and efficiency at scale. TechCrunch's report did not address how Fluxnium's technology compares in cost or efficiency to prior seawater-extraction research efforts.

Further details about Fluxnium's operations, testing results, or plans were not included in the available reporting.