Second Edition: Pooser (DOE & ORNL) Discusses Quantum Communication Research & Interest from Electric Grid

(HPCWire) Raphael Pooser, PI for DoE’s Quantum Testbed Pathfinder project and a member of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Quantum Information Science group, discusses the state of quantum communication research in this second installment of a recent interview with HPCWire. Highlights of the interview are excerpted here and this interview and the series of discussions are worth a click-thru and review.  See First Edition of Pooser’s interview summarized here by IQT.
In this discussion, Posner notes that the lack of robust quantum repeaters remains an obstacle to creating a quantum internet while the use of quantum key distribution (QKD[i]) to secure communications is already in limited use both in government and industry. He also emphasizes, at least in theory, it is possible to create an unhackable quantum communication network, just not easy to do. Pooser also offers some thoughts on the quantum hype cycle – it’s not all bad, he says, and most companies have a realistic view of quantum’s likely timetable.
Posner points out that quantum communication is a big area of interest to the US electric grid. So again, back to DoE, but not the science arm of DOE, but the power and the energy science side of DOE which is required to protect the electric grid. DoE is funding a lot of research at various national labs, [such as] Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, and Brookhaven to study how to secure the grid with quantum key distribution (QKD).