The U.S. just sold its helium stockpile.

[Harpy Eagle]

The U.S. just sold its helium stockpile. Here’s why the medical world is worried.

On Thursday, the U.S. government sold the Federal Helium Reserve, a massive underground stockpile based in Amarillo, Texas, that supplies up to 30% of the country’s helium.

www.yahoo.com

On Thursday, the U.S. government sold the Federal Helium Reserve, a massive underground stockpile based in Amarillo, Texas, that supplies up to 30% of the country’s helium.

Once the deal is finalized, the buyer — which will likely be the highest bidder, the industrial gas company Messer — will claim some 425 miles of pipelines spanning Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma, plus about 1 billion cubic feet of the only element on Earth cold enough to make an MRI machine work.

So, I can admit I did not even know the Fed Govt had a helium stockpile. Turns out it goes all the way back to 1925.

Either way in 2013 congress passed a law that the Govt had to sell it all off, and that is finally being done, only a couple years later than the bill required.

It should be noted this bill passed the Senate with a vote of 97-2 and the House 394-1. The two no votes in the Senate were Repubs and the lone no vote in the House was a Dem.

 

[JGalt]

Signed into law by Bill Clinton in 1996.

Helium Privatization Act of 1996 - Wikipedia

But the CCP will he happy to buy it up for their spy balloons.

 

[there4eyeM]

Best government money can buy.

 

[wamose]

It's about time. Citizens against government waste was advocating for that sale since the seventies, maybe longer. I'm not surprised that this money hungry administration is the one that finally grabbed for the dough. Back to MAGA.

 

[tyroneweaver]

The U.S. just sold its helium stockpile. Here’s why the medical world is worried.

On Thursday, the U.S. government sold the Federal Helium Reserve, a massive underground stockpile based in Amarillo, Texas, that supplies up to 30% of the country’s helium.

www.yahoo.com

On Thursday, the U.S. government sold the Federal Helium Reserve, a massive underground stockpile based in Amarillo, Texas, that supplies up to 30% of the country’s helium.

Once the deal is finalized, the buyer — which will likely be the highest bidder, the industrial gas company Messer — will claim some 425 miles of pipelines spanning Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma, plus about 1 billion cubic feet of the only element on Earth cold enough to make an MRI machine work.

So, I can admit I did not even know the Fed Govt had a helium stockpile. Turns out it goes all the way back to 1925.

Either way in 2013 congress passed a law that the Govt had to sell it all off, and that is finally being done, only a couple years later than the bill required.

It should be noted this bill passed the Senate with a vote of 97-2 and the House 394-1. The two no votes in the Senate were Repubs and the lone no vote in the House was a Dem.

so that giant balloon in the sky isn't forumite Tommy?

 

[JGalt]

so that giant balloon in the sky isn't forumite Tommy?

 

[1srelluc]

If memory serves we stockpiled it so the Germans could not use it in their Zeppelins.

And the US Navy could use it in our airships.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

Citizens against government waste was advocating for that sale since the seventies, maybe longer. I'm not surprised that this money hungry administration is the one that finally grabbed for the dough.

Reading your post is like listening to the rantings of a 3 year old. It seems you think it is good that this is happening, yet you still find a way to attack the current Admin for doing it, when all they are doing is following the law that passed the House and Senate with a total of 3 no votes.

 

[JoeB131]

The U.S. just sold its helium stockpile. Here’s why the medical world is worried.

On Thursday, the U.S. government sold the Federal Helium Reserve, a massive underground stockpile based in Amarillo, Texas, that supplies up to 30% of the country’s helium.

www.yahoo.com

On Thursday, the U.S. government sold the Federal Helium Reserve, a massive underground stockpile based in Amarillo, Texas, that supplies up to 30% of the country’s helium.

Once the deal is finalized, the buyer — which will likely be the highest bidder, the industrial gas company Messer — will claim some 425 miles of pipelines spanning Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma, plus about 1 billion cubic feet of the only element on Earth cold enough to make an MRI machine work.

So, I can admit I did not even know the Fed Govt had a helium stockpile. Turns out it goes all the way back to 1925.

Either way in 2013 congress passed a law that the Govt had to sell it all off, and that is finally being done, only a couple years later than the bill required.

It should be noted this bill passed the Senate with a vote of 97-2 and the House 394-1. The two no votes in the Senate were Repubs and the lone no vote in the House was a Dem.

The stockpile was authorized in the 1920's because the US thought that airships were going to be a major weapon in the next war, and we wanted to have a supply of it while denying it to other countries, especially Germany.

When that fleet of Zeppelins never materialized, like many government programs, it just refused to die. The main buyer of helium was the NASA, but even they didn't use that much of it.

The US did build a small fleet of dirigibles, four in fact. Three of them crashed with loss of life. The fourth one, built by Germany, survived but was broken up.

 

[wamose]

Reading your post is like listening to the rantings of a 3 year old. It seems you think it is good that this is happening, yet you still find a way to attack the current Admin for doing it, when all they are doing is following the law that passed the House and Senate with a total of 3 no votes.

Money grubbers grabbing for money is a rant? I thought it was an undeniable truth. Back to the sanity of MAGA.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

Money grubbers grabbing for money is a rant?

The followed the law passed by Congress with a total of 3 no votes combined in the House and the Senate.

Did you not want this admin to do so?

 

[JoeB131]

The followed the law passed by Congress with a total of 3 no votes combined in the House and the Senate.

Did you not want this admin to do so?

To be honest, I knew that it was slated to be sold in the Clinton years, I didn't know that they still hadn't done it!

Probably because it's cheaper to buy helium on the open market than pay the government's overhead.

 

[MisterBeale]

With some cursory research, it would appear, the billionaire donors to both parties. . . BIG PHARMA & Silicon Valley desire this commodity. . . so, they are funding the pols on both sides of the aisle for this agenda. . .

Just a hunch.

16 Uses of Helium That One Must Know - Techiescientist

Have you heard of the element that is so light that it can actually escape the gravity of earth?

techiescientist.com

". .. .The various uses of Helium, along with the percentage of total helium production used for this purpose is as follows:

• Cryogenics – 32%

• Controlled atmosphere – 18%

• Pressurizing and Purging – 18%

• Welding – 13%

• Leak Detection – 4%

• Breathing Mixtures – 2%

• Other uses – 13%

In this section, we will study various uses of Helium in detail.

Let’s begin.

Cryogenics​

When it is cooled below Tλ, helium forms Bose-Einstein Condensate, in which the atoms are said to lose their energy, virtually. It is due to the weak intermolecular reactions and low molecular weight of helium.

The cryogenic properties of helium are utilized for the following purposes:

1. Superconductor​

In particle accelerators, superconducting magnets are used when large magnetic fields are required. To maintain the efficiency of these superconductors, the temperatures must be below the critical temperature.

Superfluid helium is especially found efficient in removing heat from these superconductors.

2. Quantum Computing​

Quantum computing requires the quantum states of matter, for example, electron spin, as a single qubit (quantum analog of bit).

These qubits are a representation of the electrons, ions, or atoms themselves, along with the control devices that function as a processor and memory of computers.

The electrons present on the surface of superfluid helium, in a vacuum, exhibit spin states required for this purpose.

3. X-ray Crystallography​

The high-energy X-ray crystallography is used for obtaining high-resolution images of protein structures.

However, they are also known to cause damage to these proteins. The radical damage to protein structures can be prevented using cryogenic helium.. . . "

Helium Shortage Is Hurting Parties and the Pharmaceutical Industry

Party City announced last Thursday it was closing 45 stores

time.com

Doctors are worried as the world is running out of helium; here is why

Liquid helium is important for the functioning of MRI machines and without helium, doctors would lose a critical medical tool.

www.cnbctv18.com

Helium Wars: Why Are Tech Giants Fighting Over This Rare Gas?​

Helium Wars: Why Are Tech Giants Fighting Over This Rare Gas?

What battery metals are to gigafactories, helium is to everything from scientific research, medical technology and high-tech manufacturing to space exploration and national defense

finance.yahoo.com

 

[JoeB131]

With some cursory research, it would appear, the billionaire donors to both parties. . . BIG PHARMA & Silicon Valley desire this commodity. . . so, they are funding the pols on both sides of the aisle for this agenda. . .

Just a hunch.

I guess if you are a paranoid loon, that's how you would see it.

In the real world, a government program was extended for 60 years after its practical use ended, and it took another 30 to find a buyer for the excess material that they were stockpiling.

 

[JGalt]

If memory serves we stockpiled it so the Germans could not use it in their Zeppelins.

And the US Navy could use it in our airships.

Yeah, but if those Germans hadn't kaboomed their big balloon, we wouldn't have had a cool band back in the 70's.

 

[MisterBeale]

I guess if you are a paranoid loon, that's how you would see it.

In the real world, a government program was extended for 60 years after its practical use ended, and it took another 30 to find a buyer for the excess material that they were stockpiling.

Terrific links.

Wonderful avoidance of logical fallacies in your reasoned arguments.

This particular resource is finite and limited, it is a fundamental noble gas.

When I did an intensive study into "peak oil theory," and came away with the conclusion that it was mostly bunk, I did realize, that the theory did hold implications for OTHER resources, like noble gases and rare earth elements.

You clearly don't know shit about economic theories like;

Tragedy of the commons - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

. . or peak theory, and what this could mean for our future, until civilization can come up with new ways to obtain alternative sources of this gas. . .

 

[Tom Paine 1949]

Normally, I would expect anti-government Repubs would support this sale more than Dems, but if a “national security” angle can be attached or just demagogued onto the issue then our MAGA Repubs can get at least as “socialist” as Bernie Sanders. Think about Biden’s Oil Reserve drawdown, which in my opinion was perfectly appropriate but Repubs angrily opposed.

The OP-linked article was interesting, but still I have no idea if the sale, price or terms of the deal are reasonable, or if there is any threat to national security whatever. My guess is there is not, and private control will provide some efficiencies, but I could be wrong.

The vote apparently included most or all Trump loyalists as well as “The Squad.” The linked article didn’t seem to say who voted against or why. Anyway, I’ll leave the partisan hackery to others.

P.S. On a totally non-partisan basis…

Since “cryogenic use” is listed on top of Helium’s many uses in the link, I’m wondering if the private buyer didn’t promise Biden and Trump and the rest of those ancients a deal to freeze their bodies and “brains” so they can be brought back at some future date to rule us again!

Finally, if it ever is proven this deal is in fact dirty or “a steal,” I propose every Senator and Congressman voting for it should be punished … by being forced to apologize to the American people after breathing from colorful helium balloons on the floor of Congress.

Of course they would all still blame the culprits in the other party who were really responsible. But it would at least be fun to watch and especially to listen to them !

 

[JoeB131]

Terrific links.

Wonderful avoidance of logical fallacies in your reasoned arguments.

Guy, a bunch of conspiracy theories lined up as facts is kind of boring.

If there was a grand conspiracy to steal Helium, they'd have been able to sell off the reserve years ago.

No one really wanted it that bad. Not when you can easily get it on the open market.

 

[Rogue AI]

The U.S. just sold its helium stockpile. Here’s why the medical world is worried.

On Thursday, the U.S. government sold the Federal Helium Reserve, a massive underground stockpile based in Amarillo, Texas, that supplies up to 30% of the country’s helium.

www.yahoo.com

On Thursday, the U.S. government sold the Federal Helium Reserve, a massive underground stockpile based in Amarillo, Texas, that supplies up to 30% of the country’s helium.

Once the deal is finalized, the buyer — which will likely be the highest bidder, the industrial gas company Messer — will claim some 425 miles of pipelines spanning Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma, plus about 1 billion cubic feet of the only element on Earth cold enough to make an MRI machine work.

So, I can admit I did not even know the Fed Govt had a helium stockpile. Turns out it goes all the way back to 1925.

Either way in 2013 congress passed a law that the Govt had to sell it all off, and that is finally being done, only a couple years later than the bill required.

It should be noted this bill passed the Senate with a vote of 97-2 and the House 394-1. The two no votes in the Senate were Repubs and the lone no vote in the House was a Dem.

Where did you get that vote number? It's not in the link.

 

[BS Filter]

This has been keeping me up at night. Hopefully, it gets settled.