AWE Extends Contract For Better Research Support

The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) has extended an existing relationship with data analytics and management firm SGI to better support research.

AWE will be amongst the first customers to receive the company’s SGI ICE XA systems for its new supercomputer.

The new solution will comprise of two SGI ICE XA systems, a sixth generation and most recent high performance computing system offered by SGI.

AWE is responsible for the provision of nuclear warheads to support the UK’s Trident nuclear deterrent.

However, the organisation is prohibited by the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty to perform any test that produces any nuclear yield and must therefore continually develop methods to verify the safety and reliability of its products.

The expansion of its it contracts with SGI will allow AWE to have greater scale and flexibility to complete scientific modelling at higher resolutions and faster processing speeds than ever before.

“Critical” For AWE

“High performance computing is a critical aspect of AWE, underpinning the vast majority of our science-based programme, so we’re continually looking for ways to enhance and support the work conducted,” claimed Paul Tomlinson, head of high performance computing at the organisation.

“Following the installation of our last supercomputing system from SGI, we turned to the company once again to help us take the next step in advancing our high performance computing capabilities.

“We’re confident that with the purchase and eventual installation of the new ICE XA systems it will enable us to quickly advance research and development so that we can continue to underwrite the safety and effectiveness of the Trident Warhead in the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty era,” he added.

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