Austin-based SuperCritical Materials Corp. has secured a U.S. Department of Energy licence to commercialize a patented technology that extracts uranium from seawater, advancing efforts to expand future nuclear fuel supplies beyond traditional mining.
Originally reported on Wednesday, the technology originated at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory with support from the Office of Nuclear Energy. It uses advanced adsorbent materials that capture dissolved uranium from seawater.
SuperCritical received the rights to manufacture and deploy the process at industrial scale across the United States. The company also plans to expand into allied countries over time.
The agreement arrives as the United States increases investment in advanced nuclear energy to meet rapidly growing electricity demand. Artificial intelligence, data centres, advanced manufacturing and other energy-intensive industries continue driving that demand.
However, many industry experts say building new reactors alone will not solve future energy needs. They argue that uranium production, enrichment and fuel fabrication must also expand to support a larger nuclear sector.
According to SuperCritical, Earth’s oceans contain an estimated 4.5 billion metric tons of dissolved uranium. That resource far exceeds known uranium reserves found on land.
Researchers have demonstrated seawater uranium extraction for years. However, high costs and engineering challenges have prevented commercial-scale deployment.
SuperCritical plans to commercialize the laboratory-developed process by building on advances in adsorption chemistry and materials science. The company also believes the same technology could recover other strategically important critical materials from seawater.
Additionally, the company links the project to what it calls the “Intelligence Economy.” It expects artificial intelligence, robotics, advanced computing, defence technologies and digital infrastructure to drive future economic growth.
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Commercial deployment could strengthen domestic supply chains
Founder and chief executive officer Alexander Canon Bryan said the company’s goal is to secure the fuel needed for expanded nuclear power. He argued that reliable nuclear energy will require an equally dependable supply of uranium as electricity demand continues rising.
Meanwhile, SuperCritical’s technical team includes former Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers. Among them is co-founder Dr. Gary Gill, who has spent more than 20 years studying uranium extraction from seawater.
The company believes commercial deployment could strengthen domestic nuclear fuel supply chains while reducing reliance on imported strategic resources. It also expects the technology to support broader U.S. efforts to improve energy security and expand critical materials production.
Furthermore, the licensing agreement aligns with ongoing federal initiatives aimed at rebuilding America’s nuclear industrial base. Those initiatives also seek to increase domestic production of critical minerals and materials needed for emerging industries.
Industry analysts caution that commercial success remains uncertain despite the licensing milestone. Large-scale production will depend on whether companies can reduce extraction costs while scaling the technology to industrial levels.
Consequently, researchers and industry participants will closely watch SuperCritical’s next development phase. The project could provide an early test of whether seawater can become a practical long-term source of uranium for the expanding nuclear energy sector.
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