Seawater contains more than 4 billion metric tons of dissolved uranium. This resource, if it proves to be recoverable at a reasonable cost, could provide an essentially unlimited source of supply and serve as an economic ‘backstop’ to the uranium price. In this October seminar hosted by the MIT Energy Initiative, Erich Schneider of The University of Texas at Austin reviewed progress toward practical, large scale recovery of seawater uranium by U.S. laboratories and universities. Notable achievements included polymeric adsorbents containing amidoxime ligands developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) which have demonstrated marked improvements in uranium uptake over previous technologies. A key component of this novel technology lies in the unique high surface-area polyethylene fibers that considerably increase the surface area and thus the grafting yield of functional groups without compromising its mechanical properties. In his talk, Schneider also addressed novel maritime deployment strategies which offer the potential to greatly reduce the cost and energy use associated with deploying the adsorbents at sea. Cost analyses guide the technology development and highlight parameters, such as capacity, recyclability, and stability, which have the largest impact on the cost of extraction of uranium from seawater.

This talk was presented on October 13, 2015 as part of the IHS Markit Seminar Series.

About the speaker:

Erich Schneider earned his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 2002. He joined the faculty of The University of Texas at Austin in 2006 and is presently Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Nuclear Radiation Engineering Program. Prior to joining the UT-Austin faculty, he was a staff scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Schneider plays a leading role in the US research program focusing on recovery of uranium from seawater. His role in this program, which involves four national laboratories and ten academic institutions, is to lead its cost and system analysis effort. In connection with this work, he serves as a US representative on the United States - Japan Joint Nuclear Energy Action Plan Fuel Cycle Technology Working Group. Schneider is responsible for developing and updating the long-term uranium production cost forecast used by the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy in its nuclear fuel cycle analyses. He has presented work related to uranium resources to the DOE Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee chaired by Burton Richter and the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future.

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