beside welding and nuclear fuel research here are some other uses for the gas:
What helium is used for
*Airships
As helium is lighter than air it can be used to inflate airships, blimps and balloons, providing lift. Although hydrogen is cheaper and more buoyant, helium is preferred as it is non-flammable and therefore safer.
*MRI scanners
Helium's low boiling point makes it useful for cooling metals needed for superconductivity, from cooling the superconducting magnets in medical MRI scanners to maintaining the low temperature of the Large Hadron Collider at Cern.
*Deep-sea diving
Divers and others working under pressure use mixtures of helium, oxygen and nitrogen to breathe underwater, avoiding the problems caused by breathing ordinary air under high pressure, which include disorientation.
*Rockets
As well as being used to clean out rocket engines, helium is used to pressurise the interior of liquid fuel rockets, condense hydrogen and oxygen to make rocket fuel, and force fuel into the engines during rocket launches.
*Dating
Helium can be used to estimate the age of rocks and minerals containing uranium and thorium by measuring their retention of helium.
*Telescopes
The gas is used in solar telescopes to prevent the heating of the air, which reduces the distorting effects of temperature variations in the space between lenses.
Meanwhile we continue to squander the stuff at a rapid rate by putting it in balloons and releasing them. Some day there will be no more, and we cannot make it.
James K0UA