Energy secretary praises Lab's service to nation
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham lauded the Laboratory’s work in
national security as "vital to the nation" during an-all hands
address to employees Tuesday afternoon.
"The missions that drive this Laboratory each day have never been
more important," Abraham said. "The role you play here is
absolutely vital."
In his opening remarks, the Energy secretary reflected on the Laboratory’s
50th anniversary and paid special tribute to its co-founder, Director
Emeritus Edward Teller (see accompanying article) for helping to win the
Cold War and taking on new national security challenges.
"It’s all well and good to honor the past, but it’s
the second part — keeping America safe in the coming years —
that I want to talk about," he said, emphasizing that "this
president and this administration understand and support the work you
do at this Lab and throughout the complex, and we take pride in that work
and you…We understand the critical role Lawrence Livermore plays
in national security and its relevance to DOE’s core mission.
"The name of our agency may be the Department of Energy, but the
core mission of the department is national security," Abraham said.
"What that means is that all of the department’s programs,
initiatives, offices and facilities have to be judged by how they advance
national security."
DOE advances national security not only through weapons and other national
security programs, but also by "advancing the nation’s energy
security…and Livermore is dedicated to projects that do just that."
Abraham said the administration’s support for national security
and defense preparedness is borne out by the budgets it has requested,
notably a $433 million increase for the National Nuclear Security Administration
(NNSA), including a 23 percent increase over fiscal year 2002 to improve
the aging infrastructure of DOE labs and re-establish the nation’s
capability for producing plutonium pits.
Supporting science, engineering and management skills that "enhance
deterrence and reduce threats to our nation" also provides benefits
to society "that go far beyond the military dimension of national
security," he said.
The Laboratory "has ably handled its responsibility" to ensure
the safety, security and reliability of the nation’s nuclear stockpile
for many years, Abraham said.
"In the last 10 years, however, you have had to do that without
nuclear testing. This is one of the greatest technological challenges
of our time," he said, adding, "you here at Livermore are
playing a key role in helping us meet this challenge using the latest
computing technologies and advanced modeling capabilities to determine
our stockpile’s reliability."
Noting DOE’s announcement last week at the SuperComputing 2002 conference
in Baltimore of the awarding of a contract to IBM to build the world’s
two fastest supercomputers — "Purple" and "Blue
Gene/L" — Abraham said these two computers "will have
peak performance speeds three to 10 times the speed of today’s fastest
computer.
"What’s important about these machines isn’t that they
will set records for speed. That’s fine for the headlines and the
news stories," he said. "What’s truly significant is
how they will help us better carry out our national security obligations."
Abraham said certain nuclear weapons test simulations will be able to
be calculated 390,000 times faster than on the 8-year-old Cray One supercomputer.
"That’s the speed of progress. That’s the cutting edge."
However, even Purple and Blue Gene/L will one day be "obsolete curiosities"
and replaced by even faster machines, he said, that when that happens,
"we will be able to assess the safety, security and reliability
of our nuclear deterrent with even more precision and accuracy. In a dangerous
world, we must never slacken our efforts to improve these capabilities."
Abraham also described nonproliferation programs initiatives, notably
establishing the G-8 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons
and Materials of Mass Destruction and efforts to "focus international
attention on the threat posed by radiological dispersal devices or dirty
bombs."
"Without Lawrence Livermore, America’s nonproliferation efforts
would be far less effective," he said.
Speaking of legislation signed by President Bush Monday, creating the
Department of Homeland Security, Abraham said, "over the next few
months the specifics, detailing Livermore’s contribution to the
new department, will be worked out. I expect that this Lab will provide
the same high level of expertise and services to the Department of Homeland
Security that you will continue to provide to DOE.
During his visit to the Laboratory, the Energy secretary received briefings
on LLNL stockpile stewardship and nonproliferation program efforts and
toured the National Ignition Facility. Abraham was accompanied by his
wife, Jane Abraham, who received a special presentation on the Lab’s
medical technologies program, hosted by Tamara Jernigan.