Helium-3 Shortage Could Mean Nuke Detection 'Disaster'

Stopping nuclear smuggling is already tough. But it’s about to get a lot harder. Helium-3, a crucial ingredient in neutron-particle-detection technology, is in extremely short supply. Rep. Brad Miller (D-North Carolina), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, chided the Departments of Energy and Homeland Security at a hearing on the issue late […]

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Stopping nuclear smuggling is already tough. But it’s about to get a lot harder. Helium-3, a crucial ingredient in neutron-particle-detection technology, is in extremely short supply.

Rep. Brad Miller (D-North Carolina), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, chided the Departments of Energy and Homeland Security at a hearing on the issue late last week, suggesting that they created a preventable "disaster." The Energy Department is the sole American supplier of helium-3, and DHS is supposed to take the lead in spotting and stopping illicit nuclear material.

The helium-3 isotope represents less than 0.0002 percent of all helium. Of that, about 80 percent of helium-3 usage is devoted to security purposes, because the gas is extremely sensitive to neutrons, like those emitted spontaneously by plutonium.

Helium-3 is a decay product of tritium, a heavy isotope of hydrogen used to enhance the yield of nuclear weapons, but whose production stopped in 1988. The half-life decay of tritium is about 12 years, and the U.S. supply for helium-3 is fed by harvesting the gas from dismantled or refurbished nuclear weapons. However, production of helium-3 hasn’t kept pace with the exponential demand sparked by the Sept. 11 attacks.

Projected demand for the nonradioactive gas in 2010 is said to be more than 76,000 liters per year, while U.S. production is a mere 8,000 liters annually, and U.S. total supply rests at less than 48,000 liters. This shortage wasn’t identified until a workshop put on by the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Physics in August 2008.

Between 2004 and 2008, about 25,000 liters of helium-3 annually was entering the U.S. from Russia, according to the testimony of Dr. William F. Brinkman, director of the Office of Science at DOE. Right around the time of the August workshop, Russia decided it was “reserving its supplies for domestic use.”

Helium-3 neutron-detector systems were incorporated into many nuclear reactors designed and built General Electric, to measure power levels and initiate protective measures. Thomas R. Anderson, a representative from GE Energy, said his company has supplied more than 35,000 detectors around the world to monitor nuclear smuggling.

The shortage is so severe, explained Dr. William K. Hagan, acting director of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office at DHS, that even handheld and backpack detectors used by the U.S. Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, and Transportation Security Administration would be affected. According to the hearing's charter, U.S. exports of the precious gas have ceased, and the International Atomic Energy Agency has been informed that it must diversify its helium-3 sources used for their nuclear-nonproliferation work.

A lack of helium-3 will also adversely affect the oil and gas industry. These detectors are used to locate hydrocarbon reservoirs, and several measurement tools are designed around the use of helium-3, said GE Energy rep Anderson. Other affected industries include cryogenic research and magnetic resonance imaging.

So far, the alternatives to helium-3 have been hard to come by. The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office of DHS is studying boron trifluoride as a cost-effective replacement for helium-3, but the gas is classified as a hazardous material. Other projects under consideration include lithium-loaded glass fibers and complex material like, cesium-lithium-yttrium-chloride, called “click.” However, none has been commercialized or rigorously tested.

“Up to six different neutron-detection technologies may be required to replace helium-3 detectors,” for its four main uses, said Anderson. “[A] drop-in replacement technology for helium-3 does not exist today.”

-- Darius Dixon

[Photo: Greenpeace]

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