Helium: impending crisis for radiology, or just more hot air?

It is one of the most ubiquitous elements in the universe, second only to hydrogen. Balloons filled with it are almost everywhere and can be purchased for only a few dollars. One can easily be forgiven for assuming that helium, which plays a currently irreplaceable role in the superconducting magnets used in MRI and particle accelerators, is not only relatively easily obtained but in inexhaustible supply. Unfortunately, the reality of the global helium supply may come as a surprise even to those of us who directly rely on it. According to a report published in 2010 by the National Academy of Sciences, helium is a precious resource at risk of permanent depletion in the very near future, with major and potentially devastating shortages as early as 2015. How did we get here? And what can be done to avert a possible crisis for our specialty, which accounts for approximately a quarter of all the helium used in the United States? The United States first identified helium as a critical strategic resource in the 1920s and began aggressively stockpiling helium in 1960, with almost the entire world’s supply now stored within 250 miles of Amarillo, Texas. In 1996, however, the government decided to get out of the helium business. The Helium Privatization Act passed by Congress that year required that all of the helium in A