Computers of this scale will unlock the ability to confidently simulate nuclear weapons tests in the laboratory. This effort demonstrates a step forward for our scientific-based stockpile stewardship program. It emphasizes the Department's commitment to maintain the President's goal of preserving a safe, secure and reliable nuclear deterrent without underground testing. It will be used to simulate the reliability and performance of nuclear weapons, predict the effects of long term aging, and to model manufacturing process.
Tera means trillions, and flops is floating point operations per second.
So, teraflops is a trillion floating point operations per second. Peak performance of the new computer will be about 1. 8 teraflops. However, high performance computing can be applied to many other DOE missions. This technology can be used to develop safer and more efficient automobiles, create a better understanding of global climate change, or track pollutants in the environment. The selection of Intel Corp. was accomplished through a competitive procurement which was administered by Sandia National Laboratory and is the first in a series of similar procurements intended to support the ASCI program.