{"id":1839,"date":"2026-10-24T21:11:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T18:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/5000.news\/?p=1839"},"modified":"2026-10-26T16:17:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T14:17:54","slug":"sash-heliy-kritichen-material-chipove-23-oktomvri-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/5000.news\/en\/sash-heliy-kritichen-material-chipove-23-oktomvri-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"US adds helium to critical materials list over chipmaking needs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>The US Department of Energy has designated helium a critical material for the US economy.<\/strong> The decision, announced on 23 October, reflects the essential role of the gas in semiconductor manufacturing and increasing supply-chain risks.<\/p>\n<p>The department says helium has unique properties and no suitable substitute for several important manufacturing applications. In addition to microchip production, it is used in high-tech equipment and the energy sector.<\/p>\n<p>US officials point to a gap between growing demand and production and processing capacity. According to the department, limited purification capacity and lengthy permitting procedures hinder supply expansion despite domestic deposits.<\/p>\n<p>Designation as a critical material reflects economic importance and supply risks. It does not mean that helium is a newly discovered element or that an immediate shortage is expected everywhere. Associated Press notes that the status could give producers access to federal financing and increase oversight of supplies.<\/p>\n<p>The decision highlights how the global technology industry depends not only on silicon and rare metals, but also on industrial gases used at different stages of complex electronics manufacturing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sources:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.energy.gov\/articles\/energy-department-designates-helium-critical-material-strengthen-american-manufacturing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">US Department of Energy, 23 October 2026<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/43da160adc1bad389fba0b9ffbd14c3c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Associated Press, 23 October 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Photo: illustrative image of a silicon wafer with microchips, not an image of helium. Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/@viazavier\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Laura Ockel \/ Unsplash<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/license\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Unsplash License<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The US Department of Energy designated helium as a critical material for semiconductors and energy technologies, citing supply risks.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23,24,5],"tags":[16],"class_list":["post-1839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biznes","category-nauka-i-tehnologii","category-svyat","tag-aktualno"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/5000.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/helium-semiconductor-silicon-wafer-illustration-20261024.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/5000.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/5000.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/5000.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5000.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5000.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1839"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/5000.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1841,"href":"https:\/\/5000.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1839\/revisions\/1841"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5000.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/5000.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5000.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5000.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}