Nuclear fuel prices are soaring

Yellowcake uranium prices jumped 75% in five years. The U.S. wants to triple nuclear capacity by 2050, but fuel costs could derail those plans.

The ocean holds 50,000 years of uranium

Seawater contains over 4 billion metric tons of uranium, a thousand times more than all identified hard rock mines combined.

“It's like a thousand times more than all identified hard rock mines combined”

Fluxnium cracked seawater extraction

The startup licensed Department of Energy chemistry and improved it to make extraction cost-competitive with traditional uranium mines.

They raised $7 million seed round

Congruent Ventures led the round with Active Impact Investments and Constellation Energy, which runs the largest U.S. nuclear fleet.

Polymer fibers attract dissolved uranium

The key breakthrough was increasing fiber surface area. Early lab demos cost over $200 per pound, but Fluxnium brought costs way down.

It works like seaweed farming

Braided fibers hang off buoys for 30 to 60 days, then get hauled ashore. Uranium is extracted without toxic tailings, and each line is reused.

Geopolitical risks drive the opportunity

Three-quarters of Western uranium comes from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Namibia, Niger, and China. Seawater extraction eliminates that dependence.

“If demand comes the way it's being projected, we're structurally short uranium”

Green is a serial clean tech founder

Jeff Green launched Stamps.com in 1996, desalination startup NanoH2O in 2005, and carbon removal company 1PointFive in 2020.