Fluxnium raises US$7 million to develop uranium extraction from seawater
The clean-tech startup says polymer fibres could lower the cost of extracting uranium from seawater, though its claims on cost and commercial scale remain unverified.
Clean-tech startup Fluxnium has raised US$7 million in seed funding to develop polymer fibres designed to extract uranium from seawater for conversion into yellowcake, according to TechCrunch.
The round was led by Congruent Ventures, with participation from Active Impact Investments and Constellation Energy, which operates the largest nuclear fleet in the US.
Fluxnium says it licensed the underlying chemistry from US Department of Energy national laboratories and improved the fibres’ surface area to draw more uranium from seawater. The company has been developing the technology in stealth and says the changes could reduce extraction costs.
Under the proposed process, the fibres are braided into long lines and suspended from buoys at sea for 30 to 60 days. They are then brought ashore, where the uranium is extracted and purified into yellowcake. Fluxnium says the lines can be reused several times and that the process leaves no toxic tailings.
The ocean contains more than 4 billion metric tonnes of uranium, according to the report, an estimate that could represent about 50,000 years of supply depending on recovery rates and future demand. Uranium prices have risen 75 per cent over the past five years, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Earlier demonstrations reportedly extracted uranium at more than US$200 a pound. Fluxnium says its design lowers costs, but the supplied material does not provide an independently verified figure. The technology’s commercial scale, durability and environmental performance also remain unclear.
