In its first public letter to the Ypsilanti Township community, Los Alamos National Laboratory disputed claims made by township officials about the “high performance computing facility” it plans to build in partnership with the University of Michigan, including that it would be a target of foreign enemies.
The national security laboratory reiterated that the site will be used solely for research conducted alongside the university and said no nuclear testing or weapons building would happen at the site. The letter was signed by Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Thom Mason and is expected to be distributed on the evening of Sept. 9 to Ypsilanti Township residents at an informational town hall.
“The center would be for research computing,” Mason said. “It would not be a military installation or weapons production site. No plutonium or other nuclear or hazardous materials would be produced, used, or stored at the facility. Plutonium pit production could never take place at the Michigan facility. That work is limited to specialized, highly secure facilities in New Mexico and South Carolina…