According to China’s National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), China has formed an innovation alliance to foster the research and application of extracting uranium from seawater. The alliance, led by CNNC, comprises about 20 research institutions and universities, and will focus on the technology and products used in the extraction process. It is estimated that seawater contains about 4.5 billion tonnes of uranium is, about 1,000 times of the land proven reserves. However, concentration is extremely low, making it a huge challenge to develop cost-effective seawater uranium extraction technology.
Xinhua news release, November 12, 2019