Helium as Chip Supply Chokepoint

A small number of producers (notably Qatar) supply a large share of industrial helium used for cryogenics in semiconductor fabrication, so regional conflicts or attacks can put chip production on a short 'two‑week clock' before expensive, slow relocation and revalidation of equipment are required. The shortage risk is concrete (QatarEnergy declared force majeure after strikes that removed ~30% of global supply) and exposes national industrial dependence and the limits of substitution. — This reframes helium from an obscure industrial input into a strategic supply‑chain vulnerability that can affect tech production, national security, and industrial policy decisions (stockpiling, domestic capacity, import diversification).