We are Michigan residents, students, workers, and neighbors who are deeply concerned about the University of Michigan’s proposed partnership with Los Alamos National Laboratory to build a massive high-performance computing facility in or near Ypsilanti Township.

The University has emphasized that no physical weapons would be built at this site. But Los Alamos officials have openly acknowledged that the knowledge gained through this collaboration would feed into the nation’s nuclear weapons program. In today’s world, nuclear weapons research does not depend on factories or test sites alone—it increasingly depends on advanced computing and simulation. That reality makes this project far more than a neutral academic endeavor.

Our community did not ask to become part of the nuclear weapons pipeline.

Residents who attended the recent open house left with unanswered questions about national security secrecy, environmental risk, and long-term impacts on surrounding neighborhoods. Ypsilanti Township already bears disproportionate environmental and economic burdens, and many fear this project would intensify them rather than bring shared prosperity. Concerns about air quality, the Huron River watershed, noise, and the strain on local infrastructure remain unresolved.

The proposed facility’s enormous energy demand—equivalent to that of a small city—raises serious doubts about assurances that utility rates will not increase. Trust is further strained by plans for new substations and backup generators near residential areas. Community members deserve binding guarantees, not posters and promises.

Michigan is home to world-class research institutions capable of leading on climate science, public health, clean energy, and civilian innovation. We believe the University of Michigan should invest in partnerships that reflect those values, not collaborations that tie our region to nuclear weapons development under the broad and opaque banner of “national security.”

We call on the University of Michigan Board of Regents, University President-Elect Kent Syverud, Ypsilanti Township officials, and state leaders with oversight authority to halt this partnership, pause site development, and meaningfully engage the public in deciding what kinds of projects belong in our community.

Our future should be shaped by transparency, environmental responsibility, and a commitment to peace—not by decisions made without our consent.