Producers of high-tech products from MRI scanners to semiconductors are breathing a sign of relief after US lawmakers acted on Thursday to prevent the shutdown of a 90-year-old helium reservoir in Texas.
The US Senate vote was hardly a squeaker, at 97-2, to keep the Federal Helium Program running past its scheduled closure on October 7.
The House of Representatives voted earlier in the year to keep the reserve running, but without action in the Senate panic set in, triggering some frantic lobbying.
More than 100 organisations, universities and companies, including Siemens, Philips, Samsung , and General Electric, wrote to Congress last week urging it to keep the reservoir open or risk a disruption to the US economy, putting millions of jobs at risk.
Helium, best known as a party gas for filling balloons and making the voice squeaky, is also needed for aerospace and defence industries as well as smart phones, flat-screen TVs, medical equipment and deep-sea diving tanks.
The gas, which is the second most abundant element in the universe, is difficult to capture and store, making the US reservoir a vital source.