Helium: resource for more than balloons

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Helium may bring images of party balloons or the Goodyear blimp to mind. But it has far more important applications in the medical industry and the supply is running light in America.

Standing at Praxair in Tonawanda on Monday, Senator Charles Schumer warned a disruption in the flow of helium gas could spell trouble for some western New York industries.

"Helium's a vital resource, and it's much more important than balloons," Sen. Schumer said.

Praxair Senior Vice Pres. Ray Roberge added, "Praxair and other industrial gas companies have been purchasing helium from the federal government for many years. Senator Schumer is sponsoring a bill to keep that supply chain open and vibrant."

New York's senior senator is pushing legislation to prevent the federal helium reserve from pending closure. Instead, he says, reliable helium supplies should be preserved for commercial users across upstate New York.

"If you, tomorrow, shutdown the helium reserve, which is about 50 percent of the helium that's used in this country, there would be huge disruption," Sen. Schumer warned.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute, for example, uses a great deal of helium for things like cooling clinical and experimental magnetic resonance imaging.

Roswell Park Dr. Ronald Alberico said, "Without it we would be unable to have superconducting magnets and MRI would not exist in its current form."

Another local user of helium is Buffalo-based research hub Cubrc and its supersonic and hypersonic test facilities.

Vice President Dr. Michael Holden said, "Helium, to us, is key. And if we don't get it, basically, we're sort of out of business, and that's about ten million dollars worth of business."

Senator Schumer's plan, that he's pushing to bring to the Senate floor, would rework the federal helium reserve program so that the doors remain open while a more reliable domestic supply is established.