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Chu lays out labs' missions: Energy secretary says science of sustaining nukes is key to keeping world safe [The Santa Fe New Mexican](Santa Fe New Mexican (NM) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Apr. 11--The Obama administration has no real fondness for nuclear weapons, but so long as other countries have them, the United States needs to continue to maintain its stockpile, Energy Secretary Steven Chu told a packed auditorium full of scientists in Albuquerque on Friday. Still, the computer power, technology and scientific knowledge gained through maintaining the stockpile could be even more valuable when retooled to address issues of global climate change and energy security, Chu said. Chu spoke to scientists and engineers at Sandia National Laboratories and through a webcast to staff at Los Alamos National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory about "The Role of the Nuclear Security Laboratories in Meeting National Challenges." Efforts to safely maintain the stockpile "are incredibly important missions and they will continue in the foreseeable future," Chu said. But some of the technologies that have come out of that work -- such as computer modeling of global climate change at LANL and LLNL and energy-efficient engines at Sandia -- could play a larger role in keeping the world safe in the future, he said. And when it comes to nuclear science, he thinks it's best to keep the nation's weapons labs under the supervision of the Department of Energy, rather than the Department of Defense as some have suggested. "What is really vital for the health of the labs and the health of the country is that the national security needs of the country have to be tied to a very strong science foundation," Chu told reporters after the speech. Leaders of the national labs should be "some of our best scientists -- ideally active scientists," Chu said, adding that he thinks the best directors are ones that are involved in the physics or other scientific work of those they supervise. Asked if that meant that he had managerial changes in mind, however, Chu laughed. "Well, we have very many well-qualified lab directors," Chu said. Good directors should foster more rapid science development at the labs, as well, he said, by letting scientists tackle very tough and risky projects along with the more practical ones. "Being very bold and shooting for the moon is something we want to encourage," Chu said, adding that such a strategy could help us deal with the world's looming problems. One of those problems, he said in his speech, is that computer models indicate that rising global temperatures and other climate problems could lead to a much more arid and desert-like Western United States. "The economic consequences would be staggering," Chu said. LANL has the most intricate ocean and climate computer model ever made, and continued evolution of that on supercomputers throughout the complex could help scientists better understand how to stop climate problems from becoming drastic, he said. As far as climate change science evolving in the real world, "we can only do one experiment -- the one we're doing now," he said, adding with a laugh that if it goes awry, "that would be bad." Chu, who visited LANL on Thursday, compared public knowledge and a willingness to address climate change issues to being on the Titanic looking for icebergs. "If we turn now, and work hard, we can get a glancing blow," Chu said of climate change impacts, adding that if nothing is done, the blow will be much worse. Building better batteries and more energy efficient transportation and construction projects will also be critical going forward, because fuel and energy problems are a major source behind global unrest, Chu said. "Our economic prosperity is intimately tied to how we can efficiently use energy and how we can sustainable generate it," he said. Computer models at Sandia and Livermore are a good step toward addressing those problems, he added. Those labs have used models to test the energy efficiency of diesel engines long before they're built, he said. But while Chu used a few examples of technologies at New Mexico's labs, the bulk of the sciences he discussed came from California labs, where he spent many years as a physicist and as director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Still, Chu's California focus isn't something New Mexico's scientists should be overly concerned about, said U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a Silver City Democrat, who visited Sandia with Chu. "I think he's generally knowledgeable about what Sandia and Los Alamos are doing and have been doing," Bingaman said, but added that "I think we need to be sure that he appreciates all the work that goes on here that's not weapons related." Contact Sue Vorenberg at [email protected]. Raw Video: Energy Secretary Steven Chu talks about global nuclear test ban Raw Video: Energy Secretary Steven Chu on moving weapons labs to DOD Video clips by Sue Vorenberg |