Protein with twin binding sites for uranium extraction from seawater

Uranium is the key raw material for fabricating nuclear fuels, and the rapid growth of nuclear energy industry has significantly increased the demand for a sustainable supply of uranium resource [1]. However, uranium resources available in terrestrial exploitable ores are limited and can only support the nuclear energy industry for approximately 60 to 80 years, without accounting for the rising consumption rates [2,3]. As a result, there is a pressing need to explore alternative uranium sources. In contrast, global seawater is estimated to contain around 4.5 billion tons of uranium, which is 1000 times greater than the uranium reserves found in the terrestrial exploitable ores, and is expected to provide an almost inexhaustible supply of uranium [4]. Therefore, the extraction of uranium from seawater has garnered considerable attention in recent decades.