Red Mercury, Part 2
The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong
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The Importance of Lithium-6 in Thermonuclear Weapons
Lithium-6 is an important component of most thermonuclear weapons. When lithium-6 is bombarded with neutron radiation it breaks apart into helium and tritium. Tritium occurs naturally on Earth but only in very trace amounts, high in the upper atmosphere. It's possible that red mercury was a Soviet code word for plutonium or lithium-6.
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