Seawater yields first grams of yellowcake: Yarn-like material collects largest amount of uranium to date
https://phys.org/news/2018-06-seawater-yields-grams-yellowcake-yarn-like.html
That's where LCW, a Moscow, Idaho clean energy company comes in. LCW with early support from PNNL through DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy, developed an acrylic fiber which attracts and holds on to dissolved uranium naturally present in ocean water.
"We have chemically modified regular, inexpensive yarn, to convert it into an adsorbent which is selective for uranium, efficient and reusable," said Chien Wai, president of LCW Supercritical Technologies. "PNNL's capabilities in evaluating and testing the material, have been invaluable in moving this technology forward."