<P> The National Helium Reserve, also known as the Federal Helium Reserve, is a strategic reserve of the United States holding over 1 billion cubic meters (10 m) of helium gas . The helium is stored at the Cliffside Storage Facility about 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Amarillo, Texas, in a natural geologic gas storage formation, the Bush Dome reservoir . The reserve was established with the enactment of the Helium Act of 1925 . The strategic supply provisioned the noble gas for airships, and in the 1950s became an important source of coolant during the Cold War and Space Race . </P> <P> The facilities were located close to the Hugoton and other natural gas fields in southwest Kansas and the panhandle of Oklahoma, plus the Panhandle Field in Texas . These fields contain natural gas with unusually high percentages of helium--from 0.3% to 2.7%--and constitute the United States' largest helium source . The helium is separated as a byproduct from the produced natural gas . </P>

What does the us government use helium for