[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Lithium deuteride was the fusion fuel of choice in early versions of the hydrogen bomb. When bombarded by neutrons, both ₆Li and ₇Li produce tritium — this reaction, which was not fully understood when hydrogen bombs were first tested, was responsible for the runaway yield of the Castle Bravo nuclear test. Tritium fuses with deuterium in a fusion reaction that is relatively easy to achieve. Although details remain secret, lithium-6 deuteride apparently still plays a role in modern nuclear weapons as a fusion material.

[ckilmer]

Judging by your comments and one other above—this fusion team is following and teasing out an old line nuclear fusion R&D as well as current practices.

The best 4th gen smr’s are lftr reactors. they began to developed 10 years ago when Alvin Weinberg’s work was rediscovered.

So reasoning by analogy—which is by definition— weak— I would say that this new fusion process has at least as good a chance of being successful as any of the of the other fusion reactors being developed.

For people/orgs for whom 5 mil is pocket change— this sort of thing is a gift horse.