[MamaDearest]

Excerpted website: Another gas crisis? Helium dwindles in U.S.

[ClearCase_guy]

“We’re doomed!” [/high-pitched voice]

[musicman]

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[JRandomFreeper]

Helium is easy. All you have to do is jam two hydrogen atoms together really hard.

We got the recipe in culinary school, but never got a demonstration or practical exam on that technique. ;)

/johnny

[davisfh]

Helium happens to be a very important gas. I worked at the Michoud Assembly Facility where the Space Shuttle External Tank was manufactured for a number of years. Helium and Argon were two of the most used shield gases for welding exotic aluminum alloys. I feel sure that other manufacturing operations require these gases as well. Depletion of the Helium supply is a serious matter.

[Flag_This]

"Thanks to a 1996 law that has forced the government to sell off its helium reserves at bargain-bin prices, the country’s stockpile of the relatively rare and nonrenewable gas could soon vanish."

Another great idea from Big Guv.

[TexasRepublic]

I always thought that squandering helium in toy balloons was a terrible waste.

[KarlInOhio]

There were quite a few snickering comments about the value of the strategic helium reserve we had, comparing it to the mohair subsidy - a government project from a past time that hd long outlived its usefulness.

[Freedom4US]

Wonder why anyone thought selling it off was a good idea?

One thing though - not a single LCD screen is manufactured here in the U.S.

[Nowhere Man]

Guess we will have to return to cathode ray tubes (CRT’s). At least that’s good news for my 1970 and 1982 Zenith TV’s. B-)

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

An earlier piece on this with some of the same info;

http://www.cracked.com/article_19048_6-important-things-you-didnt-know-were-running-out-of.html

[snowsislander]

This public law was sponsored by Representative Christopher Cox. It completely eliminates our stockpile by the end of 2014, just 30 months away.

It can be found at the GPO.

Its final provision is certainly relevant to the situation:

``SEC. 15. REPORT ON HELIUM.

    ``(a) NAS Study and Report.--Not later than three years before the 
date on which the Secretary commences offering for sale crude helium 
under section 8, the Secretary shall enter into appropriate arrangements 
with the National Academy of Sciences to study and report on whether 
such disposal of helium reserves will have a substantial adverse effect 
on United States scientific, technical, biomedical, or national security 
interests.
    ``(b) Transmission to Congress.--Not later than 18 months before the 
date on which the Secretary commences offering for sale crude helium 
under section 8, the Secretary shall transmit to the Congress--
            ``(1) the report of the National Academy under subsection 
        (a);
            ``(2) the findings of the Secretary, after consideration of 
        the conclusions of the National Academy under subsection (a) and 
        after consultation with the United States helium industry and 
        with heads of affected Federal agencies, as to whether the 
        disposal of the helium reserve under section 8 will have a 
        substantial adverse effect on the United States helium industry, 
        United States, helium market or United States, scientific, 
        technological, biomedical, or national security interests; and

[[Page 110 STAT. 3320]]

            ``(3) if the Secretary determines that selling the crude 
        helium reserves under the formula established in section 8 will 
        have a substantial adverse effect on the United States helium 
        industry, the United States helium market or United States 
        scientific, technological, biomedical, or national security 
        interest, the Secretary shall make recommendations, including 
        recommendations for proposed legislation, as may be necessary to 
        avoid such adverse effects.''.

[cherry]

I got about 30 balloons filled for my husbands BD party....the guy stated just what the article says...supplies are low and by next year we won't have any....

ended up popping all those balloons after the party....

this is just a little example of how our standard of living is changing for the worse....little changes that maybe don't bother you but they add up...

[OldEarlGray]

"In applying MIG arc welding to titanium, helium is normally used as the shielding inert gas..."
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=Helium+welding+titanium