There is nothing to laugh about – we are facing a helium shortage



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Despite the popularity of helium, there are only 14 active liquid helium plants in the world.

(NEW YORK) – For months, if not years now, we are facing a helium crisis as US stocks are falling. Victims – birthday parties for children, adult birthdays and celebrations of all kinds – have reached their peak, while the parents' party, Party City, has announced that it will close 45 stores due to the shortage.

The chain is a major source of party balloons and closures occur just before Mother's Day, graduation, graduation and the wedding season.

Although helium is a natural gas, it still needs to be extracted. It is produced underground by the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium. However, to prepare it for commercial use, it must be removed from the processing of natural gas and the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG), as is the treatment of other fossil fuels.

Despite the popularity of the element, there are only 14 liquid helium plants in operation in the world: seven in the United States, two in Qatar, two in Algeria and one in Australia, in Poland and Russia, Kornbluth Helium Consulting chairman Phil Kornbluth told ABC News. "The United States accounts for about 55% of world production, followed by Qatar with about 30% and Algeria with about 9%," he said.

How can we get here? For a deep dive into everything you've always wanted to know about helium, we talked to Samuel RM Burton, who heads the operations division of the US Federal Propulsion Program in the United States, for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

Why is there a shortage of helium?

The BLM is currently experiencing a higher helium demand than it can deliver to our federal helium suppliers. When this happens, the BLM is obliged to allocate available helium to the federal helium suppliers. This means that end users (retailers, customers) usually get some, but not all, of what they have outsourced for delivery.

Where does helium come from?

Helium is the second most abundant element in the universe, but for it to be economically useful, it must first be extracted from natural gas sources. All natural gas contains helium, but only sources containing 0.01% by volume helium are considered as economically extractable helium sources. Known sources of global production are in the Middle East (Qatar), the United States (Wyoming, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas), Russia, Australia, Poland, and Canada.

What is it used for (apart from balloons)?

There are many important uses of helium. Helium is used in MRI, semiconductor manufacturing, fiber optics manufacturing, aerospace applications (welding, leak testing and pressurization), rocket propulsion and diving. on the high seas, to name just a few examples. The element also has military applications.

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