Centralized supercomputer support for magnetic fusion energy research

High-speed computers with large memories are vital to magnetic fusion energy research. Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD), transport, equilibrium, Vlasov, particle, and Fokker-Planck codes that model plasma behavior play an important role in designing experimental hardware and interpreting the resulting data, as well as in advancing plasma theory itself. The size, architecture, and software of supercomputers to run these codes are often the crucial constraints on the benefits such computational modeling can provide. Hence, vector computers such as the CRAY-1 offer a valuable research resource. To meet the computational needs of the fusion program, the National Magnetic Fusion Energy Computer Center (NMFECC) was established in 1974 at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Supercomputers at the central computing facility are linked to smaller computer centers at each of the major fusion laboratories by a satellite communication network. In addition to providing large-scale computing, the NMFECC environment stimulates collaboration and the sharing of computer codes and data among the many fusion researchers in a cost-effective manner.