SuperCritical Materials is developing a new source of uranium for the next nuclear age. The world’s oceans contain an estimated 4.5 billion metric tons of dissolved uranium—an enormous, globally distributed resource. SuperCritical is working to transform that resource into a scalable source of nuclear fuel by commercializing uranium-from-seawater technology developed through decades of U.S. government research.

SuperCritical holds an exclusive commercial license to DOE/PNNL-developed uranium adsorbent technology and is advancing the engineering required to deploy, recover and reuse uranium-selective adsorbents in marine environments. The process captures dissolved uranium as seawater passes across the adsorbent; the material is then retrieved, the uranium recovered, and the adsorbent prepared for repeated deployment cycles. The company’s current challenge is demonstrating repeatable, cost-competitive performance on an industrial scale.

Working with leading engineering and research partners, SuperCritical is progressing from laboratory science to offshore systems, pilot deployment, economic validation and ultimately commercial production. Its collaboration with the University of Michigan is developing and testing the mechanical systems needed to deploy and retrieve adsorbent under realistic marine conditions, helping bridge the gap between materials science and industrial-scale offshore operations.

As nuclear energy expands to meet rising demand from AI, data centers, electrification and energy security, SuperCritical is working to expand future uranium availability and strengthen the domestic nuclear fuel supply chain.

For 80 years, the nuclear age has depended on uranium we could find beneath our feet. The next nuclear age may be fueled by what has been around us all along.