[URSpider94]

So, from the Wikipedia entry, it seems that the use of lithium in nuclear weapon engineering was indeed a volume driver - in part, because only specific isotopes are used, meaning that lots and lots of lithium had to be mined and then separated, to deliver the needed isotopes (primarily lithium-6 and lithium-7). However, it seems that a lot of the demand comes from the fact that lithium-6 can be irradiated to generate tritium, which is used a a “booster” - do indeed the use in lithium deuteride might be a red herring. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium