Federal Register #2026-21884

DOE Adds Helium to Its Critical Material List

The U.S. Department of Energy announced that helium has been added to its Critical Material List. - Government buyer: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation. - Notice: Informational announcement linking to the assessment supporting helium’s addition to the list; no products or services are being solicited. - Importance of helium: The notice identifies helium as non-substitutable for semiconductor manufacturing, natural gas infrastructure leak testing, and quantum computing, and notes its importance to medical and scientific applications. - Supply-chain relevance: Helium is increasingly important to advanced semiconductor manufacturing and related semiconductor-industry and data-center supply chains. - OEMs and vendors: None are named.

Description

The U.S. Department of Energy issued this notice to inform the public that helium has been added to the DOE Critical Material List. The notice links to the assessment supporting helium’s inclusion. It explains helium’s importance to semiconductor manufacturing, natural gas infrastructure leak testing, quantum computing, and medical and scientific applications, and notes growing demand associated with advanced semiconductor manufacturing and SI and data center supply chains.

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