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CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- A supercomputer that will be built in Cheyenne over the next few years will be two to five times more powerful than the world's fastest computer now, officials with the National Center for Atmospheric Research said Thursday.

By the time the computer is operational in 2010 or 2011, it's not expected to be the world's fastest -- several other super-fast computers are in the works around the world. But the center's deputy director, Larry Winter, said it would still be among the top 10.

"There's a good chance that by 2010 we'll be able to buy a 1 to 2 petaflop scale computer. There aren't any of those right now," he said.

Translated: A petaflop is a thousand trillion operations per second, or a million times faster than a fast personal computer.

That's going to require a lot of space: about 20,000 square feet, or 10 times the space in a good-sized home. "It's going to be the Taj Mahal. It really is," Winter said.

He said the computer's processors would be mounted in rows over an 8-foot crawl space, enabling workers to get beneath them to access wiring. There's also going to be a very large air conditioner to keep all that equipment cool.

"This will be one of very largest devoted to earth and environmental science," he said.

Officials announced Tuesday that had Cheyenne beaten out the University of Colorado in Boulder for the $60 million facility. Construction is expected to begin later this year on a site just west of Cheyenne.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research based in Boulder, Colo. Some 40 to 50 jobs in Boulder are expected to move to Cheyenne.

The center still needs approval from the Wyoming Legislature and the National Science Foundation, and officials haven't yet worked out who'll pay how much of the estimated $60 million cost of the project.

Winter said the existing facility, which is located in a basement, is running out of room to keep abreast of developments in supercomputing technology.

The center uses its supercomputer mainly to study the climate and weather. Winter said the new supercomputer would also be used to study things like aquifers and air turbulence.