Crossroads Supercomputer Installed at Los Alamos National Laboratory

The Los Alamos National Laboratory and Hewlett Packard Enterprise have installed the Crossroads supercomputer at the laboratory’s Strategic Computing Complex.

Irene Qualters, associate director for simulation and computation at LANL, said Crossroads will deliver up to eight times better performance than the Trinity supercomputer, which has been at the lab since 2015.

The National Nuclear Security Administration uses supercomputers to monitor the United States’ nuclear stockpile and analyze large datasets used in predictions and decisions for the country’s nuclear deterrent mission.

Crossroads is the third Advanced Technology System under the NNSA’s Advanced Simulation and Computing Program, joining Trinity and Sierra, located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, HPCwire reported Thursday.

LANL and HPE staff are running initial diagnostics for the Crossroads system. The supercomputer is expected to be available to LANL, LLNL and Sandia National Labs in the fall.

According to LANL, Crossroads will quantify and aggregate uncertainties in simulation tools and provide mission-responsive computational environments. The supercomputer features physics fidelity for model improvement, as well as numerical and geometric fidelity for enhanced 3D imaging quality.

LANL said Crossroads will eventually replace Trinity, which is nearing the end of its useful life.