Re:Huge helium discovery 'a life-saving find'
by mikeash on Tuesday June 28, 2016 @11:35AM
(#11994573)
Without knowing how the rate of production compares to the rate of depletion, this is meaningless. Oil is continuously produced by decaying life interacting with geological processes, but that doesn't matter when it's being used many orders of magnitude faster than that happens.
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Re:Huge helium discovery 'a life-saving find'
by dogma1138 on Tuesday June 28, 2016 @12:08PM
(#11994891)
The main source for Helium 3 was an is the US nuclear weapons program, primarily the stockpiles of Tritium which produces 8000-10000 liters of Helium 3 each year.
The increased demand post 9/11 primarily by the federal government (He3 is used in neutron detectors) combined the reduction of the US weapons program caused a shortage.
Here is the FAS report from 2010, it's not the only report on the matter but it is very detailed. https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41419.pdf
Re:Huge helium discovery 'a life-saving find'
by mikeash on Tuesday June 28, 2016 @12:23PM
(#11995044)
Yeah, but Helium 3 is a totally different beast with different uses. Helium 4 is far more abundant and that's the one people are using to fill balloons and cool MRIs and purge lines and all the rest.