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A comment on Huge helium discovery 'a life-saving find'. Parent comment

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

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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.
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