II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3459 

To amend the Department of Energy High-End Computing Revitalization 

Act of 2004 to improve the high-end computing research and development 

program of the Department of Energy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 31, 2012 

Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself, Mr. ALEXANDER, and Mr. DURBIN) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Department of Energy High-End Computing 

Revitalization Act of 2004 to improve the high-end computing research and development program of the Department of Energy, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Energy 

5 High-End Computing Improvement Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RENAMING OF ACT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1 of the Department of 

8 Energy High-End Computing Revitalization Act of 2004 


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1 (15 U.S.C. 5501 note; Public Law 108–423) is amended 

2 by striking ‘‘Department of Energy High-End Computing 

3 Revitalization Act of 2004’’ and inserting ‘‘Department of 

4 Energy High-End Computing Act of 2012’’. 

5 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 976(a)(1) 

6 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16316(1)) 

7 is amended by striking ‘‘Department of Energy High-End 

8 Computing Revitalization Act of 2004’’ and inserting ‘‘De9 partment of Energy High-End Computing Act of 2012’’. 

10 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

11 Section 2 of the Department of Energy High-End 

12 Computing Act of 2012 (15 U.S.C. 5541) is amended— 

13 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 

14 (5) as paragraphs (3) through (6), respectively; 

15 (2) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘Department’ 

18 means the Department of Energy. 

19 ‘‘(2) EXASCALE COMPUTING.—The term 

20 ‘exascale computing’ means computing through the 

21 use of a computing machine that performs near or 

22 above 10 to the 18th power floating point operations 

23 per second.’’; and 

24 (3) in paragraph (6) (as redesignated by para25 graph (1)), by striking ‘‘, acting through the DirecVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:35 Aug 02, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3459.IS S3459

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1 tor of the Office of Science of the Department of 

2 Energy’’. 

3 SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY HIGH-END COMPUTING 

4 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. 

5 Section 3 of the Department of Energy High-End 

6 Computing Act of 2012 (15 U.S.C. 5542) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘program’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘coordinated program across the De9 partment’’; 

10 (2) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ‘‘, which 

11 may’’ and all that follows through ‘‘architectures’’; 

12 and 

13 (3) by striking subsection (d) and inserting the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(d) EXASCALE COMPUTING PROGRAM.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall con17 duct a research program (referred to in this sub18 section as the ‘program’) to develop 1 or more 

19 exascale computing machines to promote the mis20 sions of the Department. 

21 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the pro22 gram, the Secretary shall coordinate the develop23 ment of 1 or more exascale computing machines 

24 across all applicable agencies of the Department. 


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1 ‘‘(3) CODESIGN.—The Secretary shall carry out 

2 the program through an integration of application, 

3 computer science, and computer hardware architec4 ture using public-private partnerships to ensure 

5 that, to the maximum extent practicable, 1 or more 

6 exascale computing machines are capable of solving 

7 Department target applications and scientific prob8 lems. 

9 ‘‘(4) MERIT REVIEW.—The development of 1 or 

10 more exascale computing machines shall be con11 ducted through a merit review process. 

12 ‘‘(5) ANNUAL REPORTS.—At the time of the 

13 budget submission of the Department for each fiscal 

14 year, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a re15 port that describes funding for the exascale com16 puting program as a whole by functional element of 

17 the Department and critical milestones.’’. 

18 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

19 Section 4 of the Department of Energy High-End 

20 Computing Act of 2012 (15 U.S.C. 5543) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘sec22 tion 3(d)’’; and 

23 (2) by striking paragraphs (1) through (3) and 

24 inserting the following: 

25 ‘‘(1) $110,000,000 for fiscal year 2013; 


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1 ‘‘(2) $220,000,000 for fiscal year 2014; and 

2 ‘‘(3) $300,000,000 for fiscal year 2015.’’. 

Æ 


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