[ RadSafe ] Fusion research [Helium}

[Dan McCarn]

Hi Jerry:

Most of the helium comes from incidental recovery from oil & gas
production. There are initiatives afoot to develop "primary" helium
from non-flammable gas reserves in SE Colorado (and probably parts of
Oklahoma, Texas & New Mexico).  The helium, CO2 & N2 trapped beneath a
mid-Permian cap-rock contains up to 9% helium (e.g. Model Gas Field)
in non-flammable gas.  Joe Claire published a paper on the helium
resources of the Model field in 1956.  The Model Dome is on the East
flank of the Raton Basin adjacent to the Sierra Grande-Apishapa uplift
associated with some deeply-rooted growth faults active since early
Paleozoic.  These growth faults are part of the extension of the Wet
Mountain Faults that extend into the High Plains, with up to 5,000 ft
of vertical throw.  The Wet Mountains contains numerous veins of
uranothorite, and I presume that this zone of enrichment extends into
the basement out across the Sierra Grande Apishapa Uplift thus giving
rise to the helium in the Model Gas Field.

The source of helium is radiogenic from the decay of uranium & thorium
and trapped since Permian times. For U-238 to decay to Pb-206, there
are 8 alpha particles produced.

De-regulation removed the requirement that oil & gas suppliers extract
the helium from gas, now causing a bit of a stir regarding the future
reserves / resources of helium.

The Hindenburg blew-up because it used hydrogen, not helium.

Dan ii

On Mon, Jun 4, 2012 at 1:05 PM, Jerry Cohen <jjc105 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> This is an interesting and apparently unbiased article, but something is
> bothering me. Maybe, with all of the wisdom on this website, someone will know
> the answer. If Helium is the byproduct of fusion energy production, where does
> naturally occuring helium (the stuff in the Hindenburg and in party baloons)
> come from? It is unlikely that ancient fusion energy production facilities
> existed, I know there are underground deposits in and around Texas, but how did
> this helium get there?
>
> Jerry Cohen
> Funny you should ask, I saw this just the other day.  I'm no expert, but it
> seems like a fairly unbiased assessment of the state-of-the-art, despite the
> "green" nature of the website.
>
> http://www.climatecentral.org/news/fusion-energy-climate-friendly-inexhaustible-power----someday/
>
>
> Have a good week,
>
> Tony Harrison, MSPH
> Inorganic & Radiochemistry Supervisor
> Laboratory Services Division
> Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
> 8100 Lowry Blvd.
> Denver, CO  80230
> 303-692-3046 | tony.harrison at state.co.us
>
>
>
>
>
> Date: Mon, 4 Jun 2012 12:45:21 -0400 (EDT)
> From: JPreisig at aol.com
> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Depleted uranium could this reduce our
>     dependency    on crude oil?
> To: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
> Message-ID: <f57a.e713fa8.3cfe4021 at aol.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
>
> Dear Radsafe:
>
>         From:  _jpreisig at aol.com_ (mailto:jpreisig at aol.com)      .
>
>         Ahmad, Roy Herren, Group,
>
>               Hope you all are well.  Global warming may be real.  Let's
> not ignore  it.  Let's go forward with
> Fission and/or Fusion.  I don't hear much from ITER in France  (Fusion).
> Let's hope they are
> chugging along with their research and getting fusion ready for commercial
> use.  How cool would that
> be.  Yes, there are profileration concerns.  The US and other  countries
> nuclear industries continue
> to produce energy with little fanfare.  Fukushima was an unfortunate
> occurance...
> _______________________________________________
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>
> ________________________________
>
> From: "Harrison, Tony" <Tony.Harrison at dphe.state.co.us>
> To: "radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu" <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
> Sent: Mon, June 4, 2012 11:05:05 AM
> Subject: [ RadSafe ] Fusion research
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-- 
Dan ii

Dan W McCarn, Geologist
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