Why we need supercomputers — and electricity

On Monday, Los Alamos National Laboratory will cut the ribbon on our newest supercomputer, Venado, named after a peak in the mountains above Taos.

This won’t be the world’s fastest supercomputer — that title belongs to Oak Ridge National Lab — but it will be one of the first two supercomputers worldwide to integrate powerful superchips that use AI technology to accelerate computing speeds. These superchips can execute millions more instructions per second, usually at lower cost and power consumption, than preceding chip technology.

The result will be an ability to solve complex computing problems in minutes that previously took months. This is good news for science, as well as national and global security.

At Los Alamos, we use our supercomputers for everything from climate science to disease modeling (such as COVID-19) to DNA research, as well as other data-intensive projects. These require immense amounts of computing power and, consequently, can take a long time to execute. But Venado will use AI to completely transform those models.

There’s almost no field of science that isn’t being changed by AI, and all our missions at the laboratory are using it in some capacity. In climate science, we’re using it to better predict ocean currents and the consequences of storms. We’re also using it to find pre-World War II oiland-gas wells that have been abandoned, leaking methane and other toxic gases into the atmosphere.

In many ways, this is familiar territory for Los Alamos, where we’ve been working with supercomputers and on AI almost since our inception. In 1956, computer scientists at Los Alamos trained a computer called MANIAC to play chess, which had long been viewed as a basic test for human-like intelligence. The computer beat a novice player in 23 moves.

Although AI has been a part of the lab’s scientific work for nearly 70 years, it’s only in the last five that it has become extremely useful for a broad span of activities previously limited to humans. The result is faster and higherfidelity models. In fact, some AI-based simulations can run up to 45,000 times faster than traditional models.

AI will also help improve our national security simulations. Since 1992, when a moratorium on underground testing began, the U.S. has not had to conduct a live test of a nuclear weapon. Instead, we use sophisticated computer models to understand the performance and reliability of those weapons in the nation’s stockpile. Fed by legacy data from earlier underground tests, as well as new data from non-nuclear explosive and chemical experiments, these simulations require our supercomputers to process enormous amounts of information. Venado’s AI capabilities will help speed up simulations like these and improve their resolution, which will, in turn, bolster confidence in our strategic deterrent. In other words, we, our allies and our adversaries will know our stockpile is effective and reliable, reaffirming the U.S. is well-equipped to defend itself and our allies against aggression.

Large-scale modeling problems such as disease, wildfire, flooding, cyberattacks, rising seas, terrorism and a host of other threats can gravely impact our nation’s welfare and safety. Venado and future supercomputers will be used to help us better understand, defend against and mitigate these threats.

But with this increase in computing power also comes a need for an increase in electrical power.

That’s why the federal government needs to build an additional transmission line to bring more power to the lab and Los Alamos County. Although we have enough power now to support Venado and achieve our mission, forecasts for electrical power supply estimate that existing transmission lines serving the lab and Los Alamos County will reach capacity by 2027.

Currently, the lab and Los Alamos County depend on only two power lines, which are approximately 53 and 60 years old, for all their power needs. Other major electricity users in Northern New Mexico are served by three or more power lines to ensure they have a contingency supply of electrical power. This project would provide additional energy resilience for both the lab and Los Alamos County.

Looking ahead, it’s clear supercomputing will continue to be a critical part of our national security and the laboratory. As we’ve witnessed through recent world events, the geopolitical landscape has no shortage of potential threats — and powerful computers allow us to analyze, understand and help address them. Los Alamos is proud to be a part of that effort, and we plan to continue to be far into the future.