Critical Material List; Addition of Helium

Issuing agencies

Abstract

The United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) is issuing this notice to advise the public that DOE added helium to the DOE Critical Material List. This notice also provides the link to the assessment that forms the justification for including helium on the Critical Material List. Helium is non-substitutable for multiple critical energy functions, including: semiconductor manufacturing, leak testing natural gas infrastructure, and quantum computing, along with being essential to key medical/scientific applications. Demand for helium is also growing as it enables advanced semiconductor manufacturing, which is essential for SI and data center supply chains.

Full Text

<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 206 (Tuesday, October 27, 2026)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 206 (Tuesday, October 27, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Page 67558]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-21884]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Critical Material List; Addition of Helium

AGENCY: Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, Department 
of Energy.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) is issuing 
this notice to advise the public that DOE added helium to the DOE 
Critical Material List. This notice also provides the link to the 
assessment that forms the justification for including helium on the 
Critical Material List. Helium is non-substitutable for multiple 
critical energy functions, including: semiconductor manufacturing, leak 
testing natural gas infrastructure, and quantum computing, along with 
being essential to key medical/scientific applications. Demand for 
helium is also growing as it enables advanced semiconductor 
manufacturing, which is essential for SI and data center supply chains.

ADDRESSES: The assessment that forms the justification for including 
helium on the Critical Material List can be found on DOE's website: 
<a href="https://www.energy.gov/cmm/what-are-critical-materials-and-critical-minerals">https://www.energy.gov/cmm/what-are-critical-materials-and-critical-minerals</a>.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions may be addressed to Jacob 
Ward, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Critical Minerals and Energy 
Innovation, Office of Analysis and Strategy, Forrestal Building, Room 
CM-1, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585; (202) 430-
2229; <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#bfd5dedcd0dd91c8decddbffdbd0da91d8d0c9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c9a3a8aaa6abe7bea8bbad89ada6ace7aea6bf">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 7002(a)(2) of the Energy Act of 2020 
(Pub. L. 116-260, div. Z, 134 Stat. 2418) defines ``critical 
materials'' to be: any non-fuel mineral, element, substance, or 
material that the Secretary of Energy determines has high risk for 
supply chain disruption and serves an essential function in one or more 
energy technologies, including technologies that produce, transmit, 
store, and conserve energy (referred to here as a critical material for 
energy) or a critical mineral (as designated by the Secretary of the 
Interior).\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Section 7002(a)(2) of the Energy Act of 2020, Public Law 
116-260, div. Z, 134 Stat. 2418 is codified at 30 U.S.C. 1606(a)(2).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On August 4, 2023, DOE published its Notice of Final Determination 
on 2023 DOE Critical Materials List (``Critical Materials List'').\2\ 
The Critical Materials List includes the following:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ Notice of Final Determination on 2023 DOE Critical Materials 
List, 88 FR 51792 (August 4, 2023), <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/08/04/2023-16611/notice-of-final-determination-on-2023-doe-critical-materials-list">https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/08/04/2023-16611/notice-of-final-determination-on-2023-doe-critical-materials-list</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Critical materials for energy: aluminum, cobalt, copper*, 
dysprosium, electrical steel* (grain-oriented electrical steel, non-
grain-oriented electrical steel, and amorphous steel), fluorine, 
gallium, iridium, lithium, magnesium, natural graphite, neodymium, 
nickel, platinum, praseodymium, terbium, silicon*, and silicon 
carbide*.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ Asterisks (*) indicate materials not designated as critical 
minerals by the Secretary of Interior.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Critical minerals: The Secretary of the Interior, acting through 
the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), published a 2022 
final list of critical minerals that includes the following 50 
minerals: Aluminum, antimony, arsenic, barite, beryllium, bismuth, 
cerium, cesium, chromium, cobalt, dysprosium, erbium, europium, 
fluorspar, gadolinium, gallium, germanium, graphite, hafnium, holmium, 
indium, iridium, lanthanum, lithium, lutetium, magnesium, manganese, 
neodymium, nickel, niobium, palladium, platinum, praseodymium, rhodium, 
rubidium, ruthenium, samarium, scandium, tantalum, tellurium, terbium, 
thulium, tin, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, ytterbium, yttrium, zinc, 
and zirconium.
    The critical materials for energy included on the Critical Material 
List are based on the criticality assessed in the short- and medium-
term. A detailed description of DOE's methodology can be found in its 
Critical Minerals Assessment published on its website in July 2023.\4\ 
On May 22, 2025, metallurgical grade coal for steelmaking was added to 
DOE's list of critical materials for energy.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ Critical Materials Assessment (July 2023) <a href="https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2023-07/doe-critical-material-assessment_07312023.pdf">https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2023-07/doe-critical-material-assessment_07312023.pdf</a>.
    \5\ Energy Department Designates Coal Used in Steelmaking as a 
Critical Material, Strengthening U.S. Energy and Manufacturing 
Security (May 2025) <a href="https://www.energy.gov/articles/energy-department-designates-coal-used-steelmaking-critical-material-strengthening-us">https://www.energy.gov/articles/energy-department-designates-coal-used-steelmaking-critical-material-strengthening-us</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    By this notice, the Secretary of Energy advises the public of the 
addition of helium to DOE's Critical Material List. The assessment that 
forms the justification for including helium on the Critical Material 
List can be found on DOE's website: <a href="https://www.energy.gov/cmm/what-are-critical-materials-and-critical-minerals">https://www.energy.gov/cmm/what-are-critical-materials-and-critical-minerals</a>. The assessment concludes 
that helium is needed globally for semiconductor manufacturing and 
other key energy applications. Meeting the policy goal of building U.S. 
SI infrastructure will require expansion of semiconductor production 
and thereby supports the determination that helium is a DOE critical 
material.
    Furthermore, this action directly supports the President's policy 
goal of ``Winning the AI Race: America's AI Action Plan'' \6\ and 
``Advancing United States Leadership in Artificial Intelligence 
Infrastructure''.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ White House Unveils America's AI Action Plan (April 2025) 
<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2025/07/white-house-unveils-americas-ai-action-plan/">https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2025/07/white-house-unveils-americas-ai-action-plan/</a>.
    \7\ Advancing United States Leadership in Artificial 
Intelligence Infrastructure (January 2025) <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/14/2025-06380/reinvigorating-americas-beautiful-clean-coal-industry-and-amending-executive-order-14241">https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/14/2025-06380/reinvigorating-americas-beautiful-clean-coal-industry-and-amending-executive-order-14241</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on October 21, 
2026, by Audrey Robertson, Assistant Secretary, Office of Critical 
Minerals and Energy Innovation, pursuant to delegated authority from 
the Secretary of Energy. That document with the original signature and 
date is maintained by DOE. For administrative purposes only, and in 
compliance with requirements of the Office of the Federal Register, the 
undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer has been authorized to 
sign and submit the document in electronic format for publication, as 
an official document of the Department of Energy. This administrative 
process in no way alters the legal effect of this document upon 
publication in the Federal Register.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on October 23, 2026.
Jennifer Hartzell,
Alternate Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2026-21884 Filed 10-26-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P


</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>