Remarks by Secretary Abraham
Thank you very much. It’s a pleasure to be here today.
I want to thank Deborah Wince-Smith and the Council on Competitiveness for hosting us this afternoon. I have admired your work for many years and greatly appreciate the support you have given the Department and its programs. Deborah served on the panel we formed as a part of my Advisory Board that was led by this Council’s Vice Chairman, Charles Vest, President of MIT, to review science at DOE. They wrote a thoughtful report and we are considering all of their recommendations.
One of the issues that Deborah and her group focused on was the central importance of cutting-edge supercomputers for the Department’s mission in science and national security.
That is what I want to discuss with you this afternoon.
I came here today to make an announcement of critical importance to our Nation’s competitiveness.
I am talking about the United States’ competitiveness in several realms: in computing, in science, and in the economic growth that computing and science support.
Today the Department of Energy is announcing that we are planning to build the fastest computer in the world open to all users. This Department is committed to developing revolutionary new supercomputing ability through a project that we’re calling the Leadership Class Computing Facility for Science.
This computer will propel the United States into the global lead in high speed computers aimed at scientific discovery.
We are making this significant investment in America’s scientific infrastructure, with the expectation that it will yield a wealth of dividends – major research breakthroughs, significant technological innovations, medical and health advances, enhanced economic competitiveness, and improved quality of life for the American people.
All of the programs in DOE’s Office of Science – in Basic Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental Research, Fusion Energy Sciences, High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics and of course Advanced Computation – have identified major scientific questions that can be much more effectively addressed through advances in scientific computing.
For example, instead of building expensive full-scale models of automobiles or aircraft bodies, industry could experiment with new designs and materials on a computer screen by virtually prototyping. This could save millions, perhaps billions, of dollars and dramatically accelerate time to market.
We could simulate a design for an efficient and environmentally benign coal burning boiler, or a super-clean diesel engine, or a radically improved gas turbine for generating electricity.
We might accelerate the day fusion power could come on line by letting us experiment with fusion reactions at a desktop before we invest in expensive reactor designs. And we could find new methods of bioremediation, and improve weather prediction.
The DOE Office of Science long has been respected as the world leader in developing and using advanced computers as tools for scientific discovery and to achieve breakthroughs in targeted applications disciplines.
Among many achievements, DOE scientists have developed innovative software and computer systems to model and simulate environmental conditions and project climate change under varying emissions scenarios – which is proving to be critical in our quest to understand the complex issues of global climate change and man’s potential impact on it.
SStill, even with this computing power, we are seeing other countries working to gain the lead.
There is no question that Japan has launched a new era in scientific computing with its Earth Simulator machine.
The Japanese are to be congratulated for this accomplishment. Due to Japan’s efforts, the U.S. must make the commitment necessary to regain the clear cut lead in this new era. And today’s announcement is an important demonstration of that commitment.
We in the United States need to create new computer architectures that can boost computing power by many times over our current machines – and everybody else’s.
That is exactly what we are going to do, and the Department of Energy will lead the way.
But this isn’t the only area where America – led in large part by the Department of Energy – is at the leading edge in almost every aspect of scientific research. For instance:
- The Department of Energy is spearheading efforts both nationally and internationally to speed the coming of the hydrogen economy. By working to develop automotive systems that run on hydrogen-powered fuel cells, and the infrastructure to support them, we plan to slash America’s dependence on foreign oil while safeguarding the environment.
- Meanwhile, the multidisciplinary nature of the work at our national labs made it possible for DOE to launch the Human Genome Project back in the mid 1980s – something for which, I might add, we are seldom given credit.
- Our Genomes to Life program will now attempt to use genetic techniques to harness microbes to consume pollution, create hydrogen, and absorb carbon dioxide. The research in this area can also translate into gene therapies for illnesses such as cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, diabetes, and cancer.
- DOE has taken the lead in nanoscience research. Five unique nanoscience research centers are soon to be built at our national labs that will help make computers the size of a grain of sand.
- We are building the Spallation Neutron Source that will, when completed in less than three years, provide the world’s most intense supply of neutrons for scientists to study and engineer materials.
In short, through our network of national laboratories, the Department of Energy is a critical component in the effort to ensure U.S. scientific leadership in the world.
And we intend to do more. Our plan for future science facilities – which I announced last November – is aimed at maintaining … and in some cases accelerating … America’s scientific leadership. To do that, we set out an ambitious 20-year program of 28 new science machines or upgrades to our current facilities that we believe present the greatest opportunity for scientific discovery in the 21st century.
These facilities cover the critical areas where discoveries can transform our energy future, boost economic productivity, transform our understanding of biology, and provide revolutionary new tools to deal with disease.
Since that announcement last November, we have taken steps to move forward on our top priority facilities.
The number one priority is a revolutionary fusion energy project known as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, which we have been working with our partners – the European Union, Russia, China, Japan, and South Korea – to develop. If successful, this project could someday help solve many of our most perplexing energy and environmental problems.
The number two priority in our blueprint for future facilities is a new generation of supercomputing for science – which is vitally important to almost every other scientific endeavor we have.
Today’s announcement that we will build a leadership-class computer is crucial to helping us meet that priority.
But deciding to build this computer is just step one.
Step two is deciding where it should be built.
The Department of Energy received proposals from four of our science labs to build this new leadership-class computer.
The proposals are quite different. They explore new opportunities in super computing and involve a wealth of vendors, laboratory collaborations, and potential university partnerships.
Dr. Ray Orbach, the Director of our Office of Science, selected the winner based on the recommendations by an expert panel.
Ray told me it was a difficult job deciding where to site this project. Each proposal was excellent, each was innovative, and each held great promise for remarkable scientific discovery.
However, only one competitor can be selected.
Today, I am pleased to announce that Oak Ridge National Laboratory has won the competition to build a leadership class computing facility for science. This lab will work closely with Argonne, other National Laboratories, and universities to make this a success.
Although this process rendered a single choice, the remaining three proposals … one each from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Brookhaven National Lab, and Stanford Linear Accelerator Center … were outstanding, and I expect that each of these will be working with us on the development of advanced computation technologies in years ahead.
We envision building this computer over the next five years, and the total cost is estimated to be between $150-200 million.
When finished, this computer will have a sustained capacity of 50 trillion calculations per second – or 50 teraflops – and more than 250 trillion teraflops per second at its peak.
Our new machine will be open to a broad cross-section of the scientific community, involving industry, universities, and other federal departments and agencies. This will maximize the scientific results from this machine and ensure a terrific return-on-investment for the nation.
So, let me congratulate Oak Ridge for its successful proposal. We are encouraged by the strength of all the proposals we received. The American people are the true winners in this competition. With the combined strength of all our laboratories and universities, it is clear American science is second to none.
And with today’s decision, it is clear that the United States is poised to take the global lead in high-speed supercomputing to drive the scientific advances of the 21st century.
