Global helium shortage in prospect as US reservoir in line to close next month

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/sep/19/helium-shortage-us-reservoir-texas

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A 90-year-old helium reservoir in Texas could shut down next month, disrupting supplies and raising costs for makers of high-tech products and threatening medical treatments and research.

Helium is needed by the aerospace and defence industries as well as by makers of smartphones, flatscreen TVs, medical equipment and deep-sea diving tanks.

The gas, which is the second most abundant element in the universe, is difficult to capture and store, making the US reservoir a vital source.

The US Federal Helium Reserve has been providing around a third of global crude helium and 40% of US supply. But this will be turned off after 7 October unless the US Congress acts to extend its life.

The reserve, near Amarillo in Texas, was opened in 1925 as a supply of helium for airships. It then provided helium in the cold war and the space race.

A $1.4bn (£900m) debt is due to finish being repaid to the US treasury by the end of this month and under current law, federal funding will then stop, terminating operations.

Congress would have to amend the law or pass new legislation to keep the reserve going.

Helium refiners have already been raising prices in anticipation of its closure. GE Healthcare, which uses helium to make MRI scanners, told Reuters the spot price of liquid helium had jumped to $25-30 a litre from $8 last year.

Some university research projects in Britain were put on hold and brain-scanning equipment was shut down last year because of a helium shortage.

Helium is a byproduct of natural gas production but once it is released into the atmosphere it cannot be captured. Demand for helium has risen, driven particularly by Asia's booming manufacturing industry.

Annual global production of helium was nearly 175m cubic metres in 2012, according to the US Geological Survey, but demand is forecast to pass 300m cubic metres by 2030.

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