Inside a locked laboratory at Lancaster University, rows of metal kegs linked by copper pipework sit on shelves. They are not filled with prize beer but with helium-3 – one of the most expensive materials on Earth, at roughly $2,000 (£1,500) a litre. “The lab has been going for 50 years or so. Back then, the helium was quite cheap,” says Dima Zmeev, senior lecturer. “Our very wise predecessors stocked up.”
That stockpile could soon be far more valuable. Helium-3, an isotope of helium, is crucial for quantum computing and nuclear fusion. It also enables the lowest temperatures in the known universe, down to the millikelvin range, through dilution refrigeration. Zmeev uses it in experiments to detect dark matter particles. But the main source today is tightly controlled: it comes from the decay of tritium inside nuclear weapons. David McCollum, distinguished scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, estimates that tens of thousands of litres are produced globally each year. Yet future demand, he warns, could far exceed that supply.
“Lancaster University's rare helium-3 stock, stored in beer kegs, may soon be overshadowed by moon mining as demand soars.”
With terrestrial sources limited, some entrepreneurs and researchers are looking elsewhere. Samples of moon dust from the Apollo missions suggest helium-3 exists at relatively high concentrations on the lunar surface. Plans are now afoot to mine it from the moon. Whether those ambitions succeed may determine how much longer labs like Lancaster’s can keep their beer kegs full.