Helium shortages

As with any natural resource, as the difficulty of extracting it goes up, so does the price. The market is far from perfect, of course, but it is the best way to apportion scarce resources. As the price rises, producers will use more expensive methods, consumers will explore alternative materials and methods. --  Helium is unique because it so light it escapes from earth altogether at the top of the atmosphere. But it is also produced in nuclear reactors as alpha particle radiation that picks up a couple electrons. I don't know how those rates compare, but I bet we need a lot more nuclear reactors.