INDUSTRY

Silicon Graphics announced that the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) will introduce an SGI Altix supercomputer as its new core computation system to assist in developing leading energy systems. As a result of a competitive bidding process, Fujitsu Limited in cooperation with SGI Japan will deliver to JAERI the new SGI Altix 3700 Bx2 model which is based on 2,048 Intel Itanium 2 processors, the Linux operating environment and over 13 terabytes of memory - the world's largest memory capacity. The system is scheduled to fully operate at the end of March 2005. JAERI has been introducing the highest standard large-scale computers to meet the needs of scientific computation in nuclear energy research and development. In response to an expected rapid increase in computation demand by large-scale simulation research in the areas of nuclear energy and nuclear fusion, JAERI will integrate the systems housed at Tokai Research Establishment (Tokai, Ibaraki) and Naka Fusion Research Establishment (Naka), and achieve more than 10 times the processing power. JAERI also expects to transfer large amounts of computation data such as large-scale simulations at high speed from Tokai Research Establishment to Naka Fusion Research Establishment and to achieve efficient visualization capabilities in examining the new system. To rapidly share and access high-volume computational data generated by the Altix system located in Tokai with the system in Naka, both Tokai Research Establishment and Naka Fusion Research Establishment, SGI InfiniteStorage TP9300 disk system and SGI CXFS shared filesystem will be also delivered by SGI Japan. Tokai Research Establishment and Naka Fusion Research Establishment (10Km distance) will be connected to a high-speed Wavelength Division Multiplexer (WDM), allowing for shared access to all files from geographically distant facilities. In addition, large-scale visualization systems - Silicon Graphics Onyx4 UltimateVision at the Tokai Research Establishment and Silicon Graphics Prism systems, with the latest graphics capabilities at Naka Fusion Research Establishment, will be installed to create 3D visualization from the data generated by the Altix system. Background: Devoted to comprehensive research on nuclear energy since1956, JAERI challenges research and development in the realm of frontier science and engineering with focus on the realm of nuclear research and developments. Projects include the establishment of light-water reactor power generation technology in Japan through its endeavors including the success in Japan's first nuclear power generation and achievement of the leading and systematic research on nuclear safety. JAERI has also attained the world's foremost level of R&D in nuclear fusion and has applied radiation to the field of industry, agriculture and medicine, supported by extensive basic research to underscore the advancement of all its R&D activities. For additional information, visit