Energy Dept. program vows to surpass Japan's Earth Simulator
The Associated Press
Updated: 8:45 p.m. ET May 11, 2004
WASHINGTON -

Viewing supercomputers as crucial to scientific discovery, the Energy Department will announce plans Wednesday to build the world's fastest computer at a research laboratory in Tennessee.

The supercomputer to be built at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory will be funded over the initial two years by federal grants totaling $50 million.

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham was to make the formal announcement in a speech Wednesday, in which he will call development of the world's fastest computer for general science "critical to our nation's competitiveness."

The Associated Press obtained a copy of Abraham's announcement Tuesday.

The project submitted by Oak Ridge scientists envisions a computer capable of sustaining 50 trillion calculations per second.


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