Mercury

You've probably heard all about the Army moving mercury from the New Haven Depot and taking it to Nevada. But do you wonder why America stockpiles thousands of tons of Mercury? Why does the Defense National Stockpile Center have over 600 tons of mercury in New Haven in the first place?

The answer is: Mercury is used in the refining process that creates large amounts of Lithium 6 (Li-6) which is one of the main components of thermonuclear fusion warheads. Mercury is converted to lithium and lithium is the fuel that is bombarded by an atom bomb (fission bomb, like Hiroshima) to make it achieve a hydrogen fusion reaction. Get that? Atom bombs are the triggers that set off fusion bombs.