UMich says the Ypsi Data Center won’t “manufacture nuclear weapons.” What does Los Alamos think?

The University of Michigan plans to build the world’s fastest supercomputer with Los Alamos National Labs through a $1.2 billion project in Ypsilanti, Michigan. This is a massive undertaking and would be the largest government-run high-performance computing facility ever — twice as expensive and twice the power consumption of the next largest . At its peak, it would use enough energy to power more than 90,000 homes.

In marketing materials to assuage community concerns about the data center’s numerous harmful impacts, the University frames the data center as a useful tool for scientific research and national security, using the FAQ to reassure the public that it will not be used to create nuclear weapons. In a press release, the University laid out the purpose of the plant.

“It