NNSA Awards Dell Technologies Supercomputing Capabilities Expansion Contract

Dell Technologies has secured the National Nuclear Security Administration‘s $40 million Commodity Technology Systems-2 contract for the delivery of expanded supercomputing capabilities at three national laboratories. Dell will provide over 40 petaflops of computing capacity at Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories.

The contract is funded by the NNSA’s Advanced Simulation and Computing program, Nextgov reported.

LLNL Senior Principal High-Performance Computing Strategist Matt Leininger said the initial capabilities delivery will be made in mid-2022 and will last for several years. He explained that the platform could vary in size, ranging between 100 to over 2,000 nodes. The contract would also allow the NNSA to respond to the growing demand for computational work, the official stated.

According to Leininger, the additional platforms will provide between a 300 percent to 400 percent increase in supercomputing capacity for the NNSA’s ASC and defense programs. The performance uplift also translates to higher fidelity simulations and more complex parameter studies.

The supercomputing process supports a variety of critical projects. It is used for identifying next-generation materials, creating simulations and combatting diseases. It is also used to run artificial intelligence programs.

The Department of Energy said it uses supercomputers to understand a multitude of nuclear applications, ranging from weapon safety to the overall performance of nuclear systems. Supercomputers are also used to safely maintain the nuclear stockpile. The three national labs also used the technology to monitor space debris. The initiative was launched after NASA’s Columbia space shuttle disintegrated during reentry in 2003.