Global nuclear energy production is set to hit a record high in 2025, according to a report released last month by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The agency described the current landscape as ripe for long-term nuclear growth, driven by strong market trends, technological progress, and supportive government policies.
“The strong comeback for nuclear energy that we predicted is now clearly underway,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. “Nuclear power is on track to generate more electricity than ever before in 2025. More than 70 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity is under construction—one of the highest levels in the past 30 years—and over 40 countries are planning to expand their nuclear programs.”
But this surge in nuclear energy is creating a new challenge: fuel supply. Demand for uranium, the core fuel for nuclear reactors, is rising faster than global production capacity can keep up. This mismatch could lead to a tight market and increased competition to find new sources of uranium.
To address this looming gap, researchers are exploring alternative fuels and new extraction methods. China is currently leading in both areas. Chinese scientists are making significant strides in developing thorium-fueled reactors, which could serve as an alternative to uranium-based systems. In addition, researchers have achieved a major breakthrough in extracting uranium from seawater—a method long seen as too expensive and inefficient.
The world’s oceans contain an estimated 5 billion tons of uranium—about 1,000 times more than can be mined on land. However, the uranium is highly diluted, making it difficult to collect. Now, a joint team of scientists from China and Taiwan may have found a way to make seawater extraction viable.
Using an upgraded electrochemical process, the researchers extracted all the uranium from samples taken from the East China Sea, and 85 percent from the South China Sea. When they used larger electrodes, they achieved 100 percent extraction from the South China Sea as well.
The new method is not only highly effective but also energy-efficient. According to New Scientist, it requires over 1,000 times less energy than other electrochemical techniques. The cost is also much lower—about $83 per kilogram of uranium, compared to $205 using physical adsorption and $360 with previous electrochemical methods.
This development could reshape the global nuclear fuel market. Today, Canada, Kazakhstan, and Australia dominate uranium production, accounting for nearly 70 percent of global supply. China’s new technology may allow it to join those ranks—and potentially give other nations a way to secure their own fuel supply without relying on uranium-rich land.
“This could be a game-changer,” said Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu in a 2017 interview with Stanford Report. “Seawater extraction gives countries without land-based uranium the security that comes from knowing they’ll have the raw material to meet their energy needs.”
As the world moves toward cleaner energy sources, nuclear power—and innovations like seawater uranium extraction—could play a crucial role in bridging the gap to a post-fossil-fuel future.
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