Submission + - An Impending Helium-3 Shortage?
necro81 writes: The NY Times is reporting that there may be an upcoming shortage of helium-3, and the effect that has on nuclear weapons detection. The gas is exceptionally rare on Earth; the primary source is from the decay of tritium. The end of the Cold War left humanity with a sizable stockpile of tritium but, with a half-life of just twelve years, a great deal of that tritium has since decayed.. As a result, the cost of helium-3 has shot up from $100/L to more than $2000/L in the last few years. Producing more requires a specially outfit nuclear reactor and extraction and purification facilities, which cannot be done overnight. Aside from the interest in helium-3 from the nuclear fusion community, it is used for several medical diagnostic tests as an MRI contrast. Because of its neutron-sensitivity, it is a critical component in a network of nuclear material detectors that are being rolled out at American ports.
