A representative of Los Alamos National Laboratory confirmed nuclear weapons research will be a priority for its portion of the data center it intends to construct in collaboration with the University of Michigan in Ypsilanti Township. When The Michigan Daily asked if Los Alamos intended to use its portion of the data center to support nuclear weapons research, Fitch said yes. However, their computing capabilities could be used to support nuclear research in other ways, including in the production of plutonium pits, which serve as the cores of nuclear weapons. “We’ve never shied away from identifying Los Alamos once we were able to publicly, or the mission they have,” Kolb said. Fitch said while the Los Alamos portion of the data center would not exclusively be used for computational research for plutonium pits, nuclear weapons research would be a key part of the center’s mission.