[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 129 (Thursday, July 31, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7974-S7975]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 637--TO HONOR THE VISIONARY AND EXTRAORDINARY WORK OF 
 LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY AND IBM ON THE ROADRUNNER SUPERCOMPUTER

  Mr. DOMENICI (for himself and Mr. Bingaman) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources:

                              S. Res. 637

       Whereas on May 26, 2008, the Roadrunner supercomputer of 
     the Los Alamos National Laboratory broke a historic barrier 
     by being powerful enough to run at a petaflop, 
     1,000,000,000,000,000 calculations per second, making the 
     Roadrunner supercomputer the fastest computer in the world;
       Whereas International Business Machines Corporation 
     (referred to in this resolution as ``IBM'') and Los Alamos 
     National Laboratory overcame the challenges of technological 
     innovation to achieve a petaflop ahead of schedule;
       Whereas the Roadrunner supercomputer will enable the United 
     States to tackle new and more challenging problems;
       Whereas the Roadrunner supercomputer will be primarily 
     devoted to national security in the United States and will be 
     used for ensuring the safety and reliability of the weapons 
     stockpile of the United States and for research in 
     astrophysics, materials science, energy research, medicine, 
     and biotechnology;
       Whereas Cell-based supercomputer technology of IBM is the 
     most energy efficient in the world;
       Whereas the new high-performance computing capabilities 
     enabled by hybrid Opteron-Cell machines of IBM in the 
     Roadrunner supercomputer of Los Alamos National Laboratory 
     enhance and improve United States competitiveness;
       Whereas from maintaining employment records for millions of 
     people of the United States, to providing technology to help 
     the United States run the Ballistic Missile Early Warning 
     System, land on Mars, end the physical testing of atomic 
     weapons, and now help national security by ensuring the 
     safety of the nuclear weapons stockpile of the United States 
     and researching issues of critical importance such as human 
     genome science and climate change, the partnership of IBM 
     with the Federal Government and the dedication of that 
     partnership to solving critical problems that are seemingly 
     impossible have remained unrivaled and relentless for more 
     than 80 years;
       Whereas the Roadrunner supercomputer is the most recent 
     achievement of long-standing science and technology 
     leadership of Los Alamos National Laboratory, from the 
     Manhattan Project to the role of the Laboratory today as a 
     premier national security science laboratory; and
       Whereas, the Roadrunner supercomputer funding was initiated 
     with $35,000,000 in the Energy and Water Development 
     Appropriations Act, 2006 (Public Law 109-103): Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate honors the visionary and 
     extraordinary work of Los Alamos National Laboratory and IBM 
     for--
       (1) pushing the barriers of science and providing the 
     United States with historical high-performance computing 
     capabilities that will allow some of the most challenging 
     problems in science and engineering to be solved; and
       (2) achieving the capability to make petaflop calculations, 
     which--
       (A) is considered a crucial milestone internationally;
       (B) is considered a sign of the competitiveness of the 
     United States in the critical new area of high-performance 
     computing capability; and
       (C) will allow the United States to solve even bigger and 
     more complex problems from the safety of the nuclear 
     deterrent of the United States to human genome science and 
     climate change.

  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to introduce a 
resolution to recognize the achievement of a major scientific milestone 
by two great American institutions--Los Alamos National Laboratory and 
IBM--to build the first supercomputer to break the ``petaflop'' barrier 
in supercomputing. A petaflop is a million, billion calculations per 
second. Think of that--a million, billion calculations in a second. If 
every human being on the planet were given a calculator it would take 
50 years to do what this supercomputer can do in a single day.
  This supercomputer is called the ``Roadrunner'' and was developed 
cooperatively by the Los Alamos National Laboratory and IBM--two 
American institutions which have a long and prestigious history in 
delivering major technological breakthroughs for the Nation.
  The Roadrunner is the fastest computer in the world. It more than 
doubles the previous record. We can be very proud this achievement for 
American science and technology. It highlights the essential role our 
national laboratories play in advancing the state of the art for high 
performance computing--a vital component of our national security and 
scientific leadership.
  Every year, computing power increases at a pace set by America's 
national laboratories. From developing advanced computing architectures 
and algorithms, to creating effective means for storing and viewing the 
enormous amounts of data generated by these machines, the laboratories 
have made high performance computing a reality.
  These applications go well beyond security and basic science. The 
laboratories have worked hard to transition these capabilities to 
academia and industry, simulating complex industrial processes and 
their environmental impact, including global climate change.
  Collaborations with the private sector have also driven down the 
cost, so that now high performance does not mean high expense. This has 
had an enormous impact, placing advanced computing within reach of an 
ever wider circle of users.
  These achievements did not happen by accident. They required 
planning, commitment and follow through. Indeed, the Roadrunner began 
as an earmark in the fiscal year 2006 appropriations bill. Congress 
must ensure that the world class simulation capabilities within the 
complex are maintained and investments are made to drive future 
innovation.
  We must continue to raise the bar, giving our best and brightest new 
goals to work toward, ensuring that America will retain its technical 
leadership in advanced computing.
  I hope my colleagues will join me in recognizing Los Alamos National 
Laboratory and IBM for reaching yet another milestone in 
supercomputing.
  In particular, I want to commend the members of the Roadrunner team.
  From Los Alamos: Sriram Swaninarayan, Paul Henning, Adolfy Hoisie, 
Guy Dimonte, Darren Kerbyson, Brian Albright, Tim Germann, Ben Bergen, 
Ken Koch, Manuel Vigil, Randal Rheinheimer, Parks Fields, John Cerutti.
  From IBM: Nicholas Donofrio, Cornell Wright, William Zeitler, David 
Turek, Don Grice, and Catherine Crawford.
  Participants from academia included Steven Zuker of Yale University 
and James DiCarlo from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  Congratulations on a job well done.
  Top 10 Fastest Supercomputers in the World (June 2008).
  Name, Location, Speed (TFlop/s).
  1. Roadrunner (IBM), Los Alamos, NM (NNSA), 1026.0.
  2. Blue Gene/L (IBM), Livermore, CA (NNSA), 478.2.
  3. Blue Gene/P (IBM), Argonne, IL (DOE), 450.3.

[[Page S7975]]

  4. Ranger (Sun), Univ. of Texas, TX, 326.0.
  5. Jaguar (Cray), Oak Ridge, TN (DOE), 205.0.
  6. JUGENE (IBM), Juelich, Germany, 180.0.
  7. Encanto (SGI), NMCAC, NM, 133.2.
  8. EKA (HP), TATA SONS, India, 132.8.
  9. Blue Gene/P (IBM), IDRIS, France, 112.5.
  10. SGI Altix ICE (SGI), Total Exploration, France, 106.1.

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