Feasibility study of uranium extraction from seawater: a summary

Feasibility of uranium recovery has four readily definable sub-divisions: (1) technical feasibility; (2) engineering feasibility; (3) economic feasibility; and (4) social feasibility. It was found in this study that it would be technically feasible to recover uranium from seawater, although there are a number of site-specific studies that should be conducted prior to site selection. It is not feasible from an engineering viewpoint to go beyond the preliminary conceptual design for a pumped flow system without conducting further studies. It would be socially feasible to recover uranium from the seawater as long as the plant site were in a low population area. Without several major technical breakthroughs leading to significantly lower production costs and/or federal subsidy, a pumped seawater plant to extract uranium from seawater is not economically feasible at the present time