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By one estimate, over 150 tons of regolith must be processed to obtain 1 gram (0.035 oz) of helium 3. [71] China has begun the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program for exploring the Moon and is investigating the prospect of lunar mining, specifically looking for the isotope helium-3 for use as an energy source on Earth. [72]
Atmospheric mining is the process of extracting valuable materials or other non-renewable resources from the atmosphere. Due to the abundance of molecular hydrogen and helium in the outer planets of the Solar System , advances in technology may eventually make mining their atmospheres a favorable alternative to mining terrestrial surfaces.
Map showing helium-rich gas fields and helium processing plants in the United States, 2012. From USGS. Helium production in the United States totaled 73 million cubic meters in 2014. The US was the world's largest helium producer, providing 40 percent of world supply. In addition, the US federal government sold 30 million cubic meters from storage.
The Crude Helium Enrichment Unit in the Cliffside Gas Field. Remnants of the Amarillo Helium Plant in 2015. The National Helium Reserve, also known as the Federal Helium Reserve, is a strategic reserve of the United States, which once held over 1 billion cubic meters (about 170,000,000 kg) [a] of helium gas.
Helium storage and conservation is a process of maintaining supplies of helium and preventing wasteful loss. Helium is commercially produced as a byproduct of natural gas extraction. Until the mid-1990s, the United States Bureau of Mines operated a large scale helium storage facility to support government requirements for helium.
Helium is the smallest and the lightest noble gas and one of the most unreactive elements, so it was commonly considered that helium compounds cannot exist at all, or at least under normal conditions. [1] Helium's first ionization energy of 24.57 eV is the highest of any element. [2]
A number of people, starting with Gerald Kulcinski in 1986, [66] have proposed to explore the Moon, mine lunar regolith and use the helium-3 for fusion. Because of the low concentrations of helium-3, any mining equipment would need to process extremely large amounts of regolith (over 150 tonnes of regolith to obtain one gram of helium-3). [67]
The decision to use helium was conveyed to DuPont, the company responsible for building the production reactors, and was initially accepted. [ 55 ] In early 1943, Wigner and his Theoretical Group that included Alvin Weinberg , Katharine Way , Leo Ohlinger, Gale Young and Edward Creutz produced a design for a production reactor with water ...