Topics: Chemistry, Instrumentation, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Physics, Research
Scientists who need the gas face tough choices in the face of reduced supply and spiking prices.
Helium supplies, already dicey, got worse this past week when production shut down in Arzew, Algeria. The curtailment joins ongoing disruptions in supplies from Russia and 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.
War in Ukraine makes helium shortage more dire, Craig Bettenhausen, Chemical & Engineering News
Physics and Nano 