Among the five new plants constructed (Otis, Kansas; Cunningham, Kansas; Navajo, New Mexico; and Masterson, Texas) the Exell Helium Plant in Masterson was the program’s crown jewel.  Located thirty-five miles north of Amarillo, contractors designed the plant with most modern equipment and machinery, including vastly improved Carbon Dioxide Removal Units.  Because of the new CO2 units the Exell Plant housed ten helium separation units; eight natural gas, five nitrogen, and six helium compressors; three gas-engine driven 2,300 volt generators; and two steam boilers.

The U.S. Bureau of Mines also authorized 75 employee houses built on the 320 acre site.  In May 1942, C.C. Anderson, an Amarillo plant Engineer, supervised the construction of the Exell Helium Plant by Stearns and Roberts Manufacturing of Denver.  During the construction in 1942-43, Exell managers designed two unique 72-passenger semi-trailer buses and tractor trucks to transport workers to the and from the Amarillo Plant.  Because of the wartime labor shortages, women played a key role not only in the construction but also in the operation of the Exell Helium Plant.

The Exell Helium Plant processed its first helium on March 13, 1943.  From its inception, Exell outproducted the Amarillo plant because of the sheer size of its machinery and its improved technology.  By 1944, Exell had produced 80 mmcf of helium, more than one-third of the entire production of the Amarillo plant since 1929.  By the end of the war, the Exell Helium Plant showcased American industrial strength that hastened the defeat of Germany and Japan.

Helium was indispensable in ending World War II.  Naval convoys used dirigibles to protect from enemy submarines and warships.  Manhattan Project scientists at Los Alamos, New Mexico, used helium to make the atomic bomb.  Industrial welders needed helium to create an inert atmosphere for bonding magnesium, aluminum, stainless steel, as well as newer strategic metals such as, titanium and zirconium.  Meteorologists depended on helium-filled balloons to gather data and predict weather.  Helium used as an anesthetic proved to be a lifesaver.  Soldiers suffering with respiratory diseases were also administered helium.

Amarillo engineers modernized the Exell plant with a refrigerated charcoal purification system in 1946.  When other wartime plants curbed operations in 1951, Exell became the federal helium activities’ lead producer.  The initiation of the so-called “space race,” however warranted a second major expansion of the federal helium program.  In the 1950’s Congress appropriated $6 million for a subsequent Exell plant expansion which increased annual production levels from 60 to 150 mmcf.  During this expansion period, the bureau authorized the construction of another plant at Keyes, Oklahoma.  By 1959, the combined federal helium operations produced in excess of 500 mmcf.

During these decades, Exell and Keyes shipped their product to numerous Department of Defense, Atomic Energy Commission, Office of Defense Mobilization, Department of the Interior, and defense contract production and research facilities through out the United States.  In the early 1960’s the Exell Helium Plant witnessed still another brief expansion to meet mandates of Congress’s proposed helium conservation programs implemented until 1962.  Equipped with six larger separation units (replacing the 10 smaller originals) and two new purification units , Exell consistently demonstrated a 300 mmcf annual production capability at the peak of the federal helium program in 1967, Exell, combined with other plants produced nearly 800 mmcf of helium.

After the United States lunar landing in 1969, helium requests dropped significantly throughout the early 1970’s.  As a result, the Amarillo plant ceased production in entirely in 1970, followed by the closer of the Keyes, Oklahoma plant a decade later.  Only Exell survived to become the bureau’s choice for the long-term production of federally manufactured helium from 1980 to 1996.

During World War II and the Cold War that followed, the Exell Helium Plant produced the lion’s share of America’s federally produced helium.  As a national defense industry, Exell proved to be very successful at mobilizing the latest technology to insure efficiency in production.  Later helium was valued for laser research, medical applications, and aerospace and atomic energy experimentation.  Without this strategic commodity, the United States would not have emerged as a dominate world power.  While Exell plant’s production terminated with the Helium Privatization Act of 1996, its legacy lives on through private helium producers who carry on the traditions and apply the technology established by the federal helium program.  Today, the Exell Helium Plant along with hundreds of loyal employees serve as a testimony to our nation’s cutting edge scientific contributions before, during, and after World War II.