Indian advancements in Supercomputing

[LETHALFORCE]

HVK Archives: India can simulate N-tests in supercomputers: C-DAC chief

India can simulate N-tests in supercomputers

Title: India can simulate N-tests in supercomputers: C-DAC chief
Author: PTI
Publication: Maharashtra Herald
Date: May 31, 1998

India now possesses the technology to make supercomputers which
can simulate nuclear tests without carrying out any more
underground tests, said the chief architect of India's PARAM
10000' supercomputer, Dr Vijay Bhatkar.


Dr Bhatkar, the founder executive director of Centre for
Development of Advance Computing (C-DAC) which built the PARAM
supercomputer, told PTI here today that if the international
community resists India's attempts to carry out further
underground tests then India can make use of supercomputers by
using the critical data collected from the five nuclear tests
which it carried out on May 11 and 13.


Bhatkar said the C-DAC, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and the
applied numerical research and analysis group (ANURAG) of DRDO
have the capacity to build supercomputers which can can-y out
mission critical applications.


"We do not have to depend upon any foreign country like Japan or
the USA to supply US the critical components which are needed for
such computers. India is now capable of building such computers
>from the commodity components which are available aplenty in
India," he said.


He said the united states was preventing other countries from
carrying out nuclear tests and asking them to carry out computer
simulation of the tests in their (USA's) computers.


"But there are not many takers for this proposal as it is always
a danger that the Americans could get access to the defence
secrets of the country which uses their computers," he said.


Dr Bhatkar said in order to promote Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
(CTBT), the USA had launched the advance super computing
initiative (ASCI). Projects are initiated under it to build
teraflop range which can simulate nuclear tests and carry out
stockpile simulation of nuclear weapons without carrying out
physical tests.


USA has banned the export of all high performance super computers
whose computing power exceeds 200 mega theoretical operations per
second (MTOPS) and specific restriction exists for export to
India.


But India's supercomputer PARAM 10000 is capable of performing
100,000,000,000 mathematical operations per second (100 giga-
flops peak). This computer has placed India among the league of
nations possessing the most powerful machine of its kind, he
said.


Asked whether the PARAM 10000 computers would be used to carry
out simulation of nuclear tests, Bhatkar said he PARAM
computers of C-DAC is a computer which is built for general
purpose like scientific and industrial research. Since it is
connected with internet, it cannot be used for carrying out
simulations of nuclear tests as the vital secrets and critical
data can reach in wrong hands.


"But since we have the expertise, it is not difficult now to
males special computers to carry out simulations of nuclear
tests," he added.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Russia to test its nuclear deterrent with supercomputers | Nuclear Weapons News at DefenceTalk

Russia to test its nuclear deterrent with supercomputers


SAROV: Russia's Security Council will discuss a series of projects on the development of supercomputers to test the effectiveness of the country's nuclear deterrent, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday.

"Under the global ban on nuclear tests, we can only use computer-assisted simulations to ensure the reliability of Russia's nuclear deterrent," Medvedev said at a meeting of a commission on the modernization of Russian economy.

"Therefore, the most powerful supercomputers will be placed in federal nuclear centers," he said.

Medvedev said the All-Russia Research Institute of Experimental Physics in Sarov, where the meeting took place, will develop by 2011 a computer capable of simultaneously conducting one quadrillion operations.

"We have allocated the necessary sum of over 2.5 billion rubles [about $80 mln], which is no small sum of money, and we are planning to develop this direction along with technological advancements in computer sciences," the president said

 

[LETHALFORCE]

The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty | Greenpeace UK

The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty


Halt nuclear weapons testing
One of the most effective ways to deal with the nuclear danger is to stop nuclear testing, which is why Greenpeace and other anti-nuclear groups campaigned so vigorously for a ban on testing in the 1980s and 1990s.

These protests, combined with the efforts of non-nuclear countries, led to the signing of the United Nations' Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) by all the declared nuclear weapon states in 1996. First proposed in 1954, and described as the "longest sought and hardest fought for arms control treaty in history", the Treaty has contributed to a complete end to nuclear testing since 1998, despite the fact that the US Senate subsequently refused to ratify it.

What it says
Nations signed up to the CTBT pledge "not to carry out any nuclear weapon test explosion or any other nuclear explosion". Every kind of nuclear explosion is prohibited, whatever its purpose. It provides for extensive verification, including an International Monitoring System to detect nuclear explosions, and on-site inspections may be requested by any signatory state if it suspects another of cheating.

Unfortunately, to enter into force the CTBT must be ratified by the 44 countries that in 1996 possessed nuclear research or power reactors. So far three nuclear capable states (India, Pakistan and North Korea) have refused even to sign the treaty, while many more (including the US and China) have refused to ratify it.

Breaking the spirit of the CTBT
The US, UK and France have devised a way around the CTBT - which while not breaking the exact 'letter' of the agreement, totally undermines the goal of the treaty to contribute to disarmament by stopping the development of new weapons.

This is being done by using supercomputers and giant lasers to model nuclear tests. These technologies are not actually needed for the government's stated goal of ensuring the 'safety and reliability' of existing nuclear weapons, but are essential if the UK is to try to modify existing, or build a new nuclear weapon without underground testing. This high-tech means of developing new nuclear weapons is exactly what is currently under construction at AWE Aldermaston, Britain's bomb factory in Berkshire, at a cost of billions of pounds.

By developing this capacity the UK is demonstrating contempt for the goals of the CTBT. The reality is that the UK, together with the other countries at the top of the nuclear 'totem-pole', seems determined to stay there at all costs, and to play fast and loose with any laws aimed at limiting its power. This leaves the rest of the world running to catch up -- a situation which almost guarantees that the CTBT and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to which it is closely-linked, will continue to be undermined.

Moreover, top nuclear weapon scientists believe that ultimately it will be impossible for the UK to be certain that new or improved nuclear weapons will work without nuclear testing, thereby creating the pressure for the UK to break the CTBT. Unless urgent action is taken, we could see both these treaties fail, with the world descending into a nuclear free-for-all.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/corporate/dd/ibm.html



IBM



IBM manufactures and sells powerful tools for designing nuclear weapons and missiles—Supercomputers. These high tech devices are designed to process billions of operations per second. According to Gary Milhollin of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, supercomputers are invaluable for designing nuclear weapons because they "can model the thrust of a rocket, calculate the heat and pressure on a warhead entering the Earth’s atmosphere and simulate virtually every other force affecting a missile from launch to impact."

IBM has sold these computers to China, India and Russia, all viewed as "bomb prone" or "problem proliferants" or in the official lingo of Federal Export Regulations, "Tier Three" nations. In making this technology available, IBM directly contributed to the proliferation of nuclear weapons while continuing to push for new markets for their high tech wares.

Russia: Peaceful Supercomputers?
In August 1998, IBM admitted to illegally exporting 16 RS/6000 SP supercomputers to Arzamas-16, a leading Russian nuclear weapons lab, in 1996. Moscow bought the computers for $2.1 million, claiming they were for "peaceful purposes." At first IBM denied knowing the computers were destined for Russia’s Los Alamos—the site of where their first atomic and hydrogen bombs were built—but later revealed that it sent a technician to install the workstations in November 1996. The company acknowledged it had "reason to believe" the computers would be used for nuclear functions.

In August 1998, IBM’s Russia based East Europe/Asia Ltd. was fined $8.5 million and the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Export Administration put the company’s export privileges on probation for two years. But the fines and penalties imposed do not change the fact that "the Russians can now design weapons of mass destruction…with supercomputers imported illegally from the United States."

China: Kmart for Weapons of Mass Destruction
When Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited the United States in November 1997, he spent almost an hour in IBM CEO Louis Gerstner Jr.’s Madison Avenue office before touring an IBM facility in New Jersey. After his meeting, Zemin told leaders in the technology industry that, "China’s market is open to you."

China has been accused of passing on nuclear technology to Iran, Pakistan and Algeria, causing Democratic Representative Edward Markey to describe the nation as the "Kmart for weapons of mass destruction." Computer companies like IBM are able to overlook that uncomfortable truth because China represents a $13.5 billion market for information technology and between 50-75% of the world’s nuclear equipment market. After the meeting, IBM CEO Gerstner said, "Your visit to the U.S. has been not only very important but successful."

Recognizing the value of China’s computer market, IBM and other industry leaders have come together under the umbrella of the Computer Coalition for Responsible Export to push for Permanent Trade Relations with China. According to IBM’s literature, the company’s business in China has grown 50% a year in recent years. In a Los Angeles Times article on the Chinese president’s visit, IBM CEO Gerstner "assured Jiang that the U.S. business community is determined to do everything possible to foster the warmest possible U.S.-China relationship, going far beyond the ‘narrow issues’ that have dominated the two countries’ recent ties." Those "narrow issues" include China’s repression of human rights, freedom of assembly and religion.

Recently, IBM proposed selling China a RS/6000 SP supercomputer able to process 30 billion operations per second, ostensibly for their Meteorological Administration. Critics of the deal point out that the information gleaned from this computer could be used to "more accurately pinpoint [Chinese] nuclear warhead re-entry vehicles." The programs needed for weather forecasting are "quite similar to the programs you need for simulating bombs" says Wisconsin Project director Gary Milhollin.

India: IBM Helped Build the Bomb
IBM sold a supercomputer to one of India’s nuclear missile sites, the Indian Institute of Science, which develops India’s most advanced rocket propellants, guidance systems and nose cones. While an IBM spokesman claimed the company had "no indication that the machine has been used for anything other than university research," the Institute is on Britain’s official list of organizations that procure goods and technology for India’s missile programs. The supercomputer, capable of 1.4 billion operations per second when installed in 1994, was upgraded in June 1997 to perform 5.8 billion operations, making it "one of the most powerful computers in India."

When a U.S. company wants to sell computers that perform more than 2 billion operations per second to a "Tier Three" nation, they must obtain an export license. In the case of this sale, IBM claimed an exception because the site was not connected to nuclear weapons, or military work. But IBM failed to ensure that the exception applied and U.S. Customs Office opened an investigation in June 1998, which remains pending.

Milhollin notes that "virtually every element of India’s nuclear and missile program has been imported directly or copied from imported designs," making U.S. sanctions after India’s nuclear tests almost a pathetic and punitive afterthought. While President Clinton condemned the tests and imposed sanctions, he also oversaw the systematic dismantlement of export controls that would have kept nuclear tools out of India’s hands.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

FOXNews.com - Fastest Supercomputer Ever to Simulate Nuclear Blasts - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News

Fastest Supercomputer Ever to Simulate Nuclear Blasts


Tuesday, February 03, 2009


PrintShareThisSAN FRANCISCO — Seven months after IBM delivered the world's fastest supercomputer, it has announced an even speedier one with the computing power of 2 million laptops.

IBM said on Tuesday it is developing the technology for its new Sequoia computer, with delivery scheduled in 2011 to the Department of Energy for use at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Sequoia will chug along at 20 petaflops per second and is one order of magnitude quicker than its predecessor. The earlier machine, delivered in June to the Energy Department, broke the 1 petaflop barrier.

Peta is a term for quadrillion and FLOP stands for floating point operations per second.

Sequoia, and a smaller computer called Dawn, are being built in Rochester, Minnesota, for use in simulating nuclear tests.

IBM says they can also be used for complex tasks like weather forecasting or oil exploration.

IBM says Sequoia will be highly energy-efficient for the job it does but even so will occupy 96 refrigerator-sized racks in an area the size of a big house — 3,422 square feet (318 square meters).

 

[LETHALFORCE]

US to probe role of supercomputers in N-plan

US to probe role of supercomputers in N-plan
Chidanand Rajghatta
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WASHINGTON, June 7: The Clinton administration has opened an investigation into the upgradation of an IBM supercomputer at the Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Science because it may have helped advance India's nuclear and missile programme, an influential proliferation expert revealed on Sunday.
According to Gary Milhollin, Director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, IBM in 1994 installed at IIScs Supercomputing Education and Research Center (SERC) a supercomputer capable of 1.4 billion operations per second. This was subsequently upgraded to 3.2.billion operations per second in March 1997 and again in June 1997 to 5.8 billion. The upgrades were apparently made without licences and in contravention of US law.

The upgrades, along with another supercomputer supplied to IISc in 1996 by Digital Equipment Corp, can be used to model the thrust of a rocket, calculate the heat and pressure on a warhead entering the Earth's atmosphere and simulate virtually every other force affecting a missilefrom launch to impact, Milhollin said.

Indian officials here said they were unaware of any supercomputer sales to IISc, but clarified that the Institute, being an academic research facility, did not go through the normal channels. But an official attached to the defence technology wing at the Indian embassy scoffed at the idea that US supercomputers may have been used for missile research.

``The US Saturn rockets were made when there were only slide rules around. Besides, we have enough indigenous supercomputer power around if needed to do the job,'' the official said.Milhollin, a prominent non-proliferation hawk, charged in a Washington Post article that IISc was a ``key missile research site'' and the IBM upgrades of the SERC machine would make it ``one of the most powerful computers in India.''

``The institute is on the British government's official list of organizations that procures goods and technology for India's missile programmes. It develops India's most advanced rocket propellants,guidance systems and nose cones. Its wind tunnels and other equipment analyze rocket fuel combustion and flight performance. It has even been linked in published reports to India's new nuclear-capable missile called the `Sagarika,' intended to be launched from submarines,'' Milhollin fumed in what Indian officials described as ``alarmist nonsense.''

The officials said IISc was one of India's top academic institution and even the White House had expressed interest in getting President Clinton to visit the campus and address the faculty during his proposed November visit to India. ``Milhollin and his ilk are making a living out of the present controversy,'' one Indian official said.

According to Milhollin, the US government requires an American company to obtain an export licence if it wants to sell to ``a bomb-prone nation like India'' a computer that performs more than two billion operations per second. IBM exploited a loophole that allows such computers to be sold as long as the buyer is not connected tonuclear weapons, chemical weapons, missile or military work.

But the onus is on the seller to ensure that the exception applies and IBM failed to do that, Milhollin alleged, adding an IBM spokesman could only say the company ``has no indication that the machine has been used for anything other than university research.'' This has led the US customs department to launch an investigation this week.

Milhollin also raked up the case of Viewlogic Systems Inc, a Massachusetts-based company which was recently reported to have shipped computer software for designing printed circuit boards to Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL), on the very day that President Clinton announced sanctions against India for its nuclear tests. Bharat Dynamics Limited manufactures and assembles Prithvi missiles, and according to Milhollin, the new electronic circuits will make the missiles more accurate and reliable.

Maintaining that Washington's laxity was responsible in great part for nuclear and missile proliferation in the subcontinent,Milhollin argued that the Clinton administration should tighten the screws on sanctions.

``Sanctions are the best hope of getting there... At a minimum, it would sever the technological lifeline that has always sustained the South Asian nuclear and missile effort. India in particular would be deprived of what it needs to modernize its industry and armed forces. After a few years, India would face the technology gap that doomed the Warsaw Pact,'' Milhollin wrote.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.

 

[ajay_ijn]

just for comparision with supercomputers, figures of FLOPs for desktop processors.
Processors - Intel® microprocessor export compliance metrics
MaxxPI² - TOP10 - FLOPS

 

[1.44]

In August 1998, IBM’s Russia based East Europe/Asia Ltd. was fined $8.5 million and the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Export Administration put the company’s export privileges on probation for two years. But the fines and penalties imposed do not change the fact that "the Russians can now design weapons of mass destruction…with supercomputers imported illegally from the United States."

Kind of ironic Russia designing nukes with US help

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2539368,prtpage-1.cms
http://theos.in/technology/indias-fastest-supercomputer/
Tata's Eka supercomputer was ranked fastest in Asia and 4th fastest in the world in 2007

 

[Dark Sorrow]

I was talking about use of stimulators instead of actual nuke test, rocket test(BM or SLV or any convectional missile), flight test for LCA or MKI, several test for ATV, etc.
I am glad someone documented this.
Great find LF.

 

[natarajan]

how it is reliable without actual test?

 

[Dark Sorrow]

how it is reliable without actual test?

It depends on how the stimulator is built. If the stimulator is built poperly then upto 99.99% accuracy can be achieved. Testing on stimulator gives a better understanding how your weapon will actually behave when used on cities or installation. The effect of journey on the warhead during flight in BM can also be found out. There are several such phenomenon can be demonstrated in a stimulator that can't be demonstrated in actual test.

 

[Officer of Engineers]

It is felt that India has not collected enough data for any simulation to be accurate.

 

[Flint]

The lead article dates from 1998.

 

[Dark Sorrow]

It is felt that India has not collected enough data for any simulation to be accurate.

Wasn't an entire explosion was just resereved to validate the results of stimulator. I have a felling that even other explosion in the test series could have been used to validate the stimulator.

 

[Officer of Engineers]

One explosion does not a data simulation make. In fact, one year does not a data simulation make.

India faces a problem that she has no answer to ... except more tests and that is the viability of her aged arsenal. All 5 of the N5 powers completed a last series of tests before declaring a moritorum on their testing and that is to specifically collect data on their aged arsenals.

India right now does not have data on an aged arsenal simply because she doesn't have an aged arsenal. Therefore, she does not have data to simulate anything.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

It is felt that India has not collected enough data for any simulation to be accurate.

how would anyone know?? We have plenty of data from Russian simulations.

 

[Officer of Engineers]

how would/anyone know?? We have plenty of data from Russian simulations.

That is a direct violation of the NPT. The Russians has not and will not share that data. In fact, per NPT, the only possible recipients of that data is the other members of the N5, ie the US, the UK, France, and China.

 

[sayareakd]

BTW one of the param machine was sold to russians......

 

[LETHALFORCE]

everybody is breaking the NPT so why would Russia be any different? also the data was collected pre NPT India has tested in 1974.

 

[Daredevil]

OOE sir,

In operation Shakti, India has tested 5 explosions and it has collected data from 4 out of 5 tests. Shakti IV and V tests were exclusively done to collect data for future simulations of nuclear explosion testing.

What information do you have that tell you that this data is not enough for simulations?.