Helium shortage grows more dire

Abstract

Helium supplies, already dicey , got worse earlier this month when production shut down in Arzew, Algeria. The reduction joins ongoing disruptions in Russia and at the US Federal Helium Reserve, as well as planned maintenance at facilities in Qatar. Helium users in several locations say they are struggling to get the gas they need to keep their scientific instruments running. “The shortage is scaring most NMR spectroscopists,” says Martha Morton, the director of research instrumentation at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Nuclear magnetic resonance instruments and related tools use liquid helium to cool superconducting magnets. Morton says her price per liter just rose more than 20%. Smaller labs may have to shut their instruments down, she says, an expensive process that is difficult to do without damaging the instrument. Some researchers active in an email-based NMR community are even considering letting their helium run dry, which causes the magnet to