science · 01 July 1925 · 100 years ago
In 1925, the U.S. government assumed control of all helium production in the nation. Congress created a Federal Helium Program to manage helium as a critical war material, such as for airships. Helium was present as up to almost 2% in natural gas obtained from some gasfields. From 1910, the Bureau of Mines contracted experimental production facilities in Texas, and the first of full-scale plants by1921. The natural gas was cooled enough to liquified all gases except the helium, which then was readily separated. Helium released by the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium has accumulated over millions of years in the rock strata of the gas fields. Other sources found were in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas (first discovered at Dexter, 1903). The Federal Helium Reserve stewardship later ensured supplies for medical applications, high-tech research and aerospace purposes. It was privatized in 1996.
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