Urgent Alert: The Global Helium Crisis—How We Can Avert the Next Shortage

Helium has become a crucial part of our everyday lives. From cooling MRI machines to lifting balloons, this gas is everywhere. Yet, its supply is in danger.

Nancy Washton, a chemist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, faced challenges when her helium supplier reduced deliveries. In 2022, she had to shut down an important nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer because of this shortage.

Why Helium Matters

Helium has a very low boiling point, which makes it ideal for cooling superconducting magnets used in medical equipment like MRI scanners. It’s inert, meaning it doesn’t react with other substances. This property also allows it to fill balloons for weather measurements and airbags in cars. However, helium is lightweight and escapes into space, leading to its dwindling availability. Most helium comes from drilling deep into the Earth, where it is produced through radioactive decay.

Impact on Research Labs

“We are living off the liquid helium that vendors had stored,” Washton said. She shared that helium prices skyrocketed to $55 per liter. Researchers who depend on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometers struggle to keep their work going. Some labs have turned to expensive recovery systems to reuse helium, but these setups can be financially out of reach for smaller institutions.

Helium in Healthcare

Hospitals consume about one-third of the world’s helium supply. If hampers occur in the helium supply chain, medical scans may be postponed or scrapped. Some new MRI models now require only a single liter of helium and recirculate the gas, which could help ease demand.

Rising Demand, Failing Supply

Analysts predict that global helium demand could double by 2035, particularly due to its use in the semiconductor and electric vehicle battery industries. Unfortunately, there is no large-scale method to artificially produce helium. It’s created slowly underground and seeps out of our atmosphere. Disruptions in supply are common, often caused by maintenance at processing plants or geopolitical issues. Major suppliers like Qatar, Algeria, and the U.S. are constantly at risk from trade sanctions and other setbacks.

Searching for New Sources

Countries are racing to discover new helium reserves. For instance, Tanzania recently identified a significant helium field expected to start production in 2025, marking a shift from fossil fuel dependence. Qatar aims to launch a new helium plant by 2027. However, experts like Christopher Ballentine from Oxford express concerns about the length of time it will take for these projects to produce helium.

Safeguarding the Future

In the past, governments have tried to stabilize helium availability by maintaining stockpiles, such as the U.S. Federal Helium Reserve. However, it was sold to a private entity in 2024, raising worries among groups like The Compressed Gas Association about market instability and soaring prices.

The Need for Action

“This is serious,” Washton warns. If helium shortages worsen, we could face delays in crucial medical scans and advanced manufacturing. The situation calls for urgent attention from researchers, manufacturers, and policymakers. While new helium fields, updated MRI machines, and improved recycling methods offer hope, finding alternatives will be a steep challenge due to helium’s unique properties.

In short, helium is more than just a party balloon gas; it’s a vital resource that needs careful management to support industries and health care across the globe. For further reading, you can check out this report in Physics Today about the helium crisis: Helium prices surge to record levels as shortage.

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