The sale of the Federal Helium Reserve to the highest private bidder Thursday could have a huge impact on healthcare and disrupt hospital supply chains and even semiconductor chip manufacturing.
The winning bidder of the auction Thursday hasn't been publicly identified.
A major concern in the health industry is MRI machines that need helium to function, threatening not just hospital supply chains but individual healthcare for patients who need MRIs.
It's also an essential ingredient in semiconductor chip manufacturing, so the sale of the reserve would impact anyone using those chips.
"We are stressing about this shortage. From a health care perspective, MRI machines are the No. 1 concern," Saha said.
The massive federal stockpile of helium spans three states and about 6 billion cubic feet of helium is held underground in the Bush Dome.
A 1996 law -- the Helium Privatization Act of 1996 -- forced the sale of nearly all the 30 billion cubic feet of helium held in the Bush Dome and pegged the cost not at market rates, but at the annual inflation rate.
Private companies bought it and resold it at higher prices. The auction this week puts the remainder in private hands.
Since just a few countries produce helium, the element is in relatively short supply.
The sale of the federal helium reserve prompted
"Helium is critical to the function and operation of key medical technologies patients rely on for their care," Whitaker said in a statement.
"For example, it's used to cool the magnet in magnetic resonance imaging machines. American patients receive an estimated 40 million MRI scans each year to help diagnose strokes, tumors, brain injury, spinal cord injury and heart problems."
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While the winner of the auction hasn't been announced, Messer, a company that helps manage the Cliffside plant on the reserve, could be the highest bidder.
According to
One of those issues is enrichment of the helium. The new owner of the helium reserve would have to lease enrichment facilities from other private companies that own the enrichment system.
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