[dragontamer]

ORNL is not an entity who builds supercomputers just for giggles. Department of Energy has plenty of practical, and top secret (nuclear) programs to fund, and these kinds of computers are fundamental to sustaining the nuclear edge for the US Government.

Among other scientific purposes of course. But the 'quiet part' is that a lot of this comes down to simulated nukes. (Much like how the space program was really a nuke delivery project)

These computers remain useful for other physics simulations of course: atom to atom interactions, protein folding, weather modeling. So they also serve the scientific community.