LIVERMORE, CALIF. ? Nuclear physicist Edward Teller, who is best known for his role in creating the hydrogen bomb, received the Energy Department’s highest honor for his many contributions to science in the 20th century.

In accepting the Secretary’s Gold Award on Tuesday, Teller said the next generation of scientists would harness the power of supercomputers to do “more, much more than I have done.”

“Things can be done that you cannot imagine,” Teller said. The best minds of science “will be able to keep up with computers … and create a new world by the end of this century.”

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, who presented the award at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, said he was there to recognize the accomplishments of the lab as well as the 94-year-old scientist. “Both have served this nation well ” Livermore for 50 years and Dr. Teller for a little bit longer,” he said.

Frail, hard of hearing and sight, Teller nevertheless delivered a strong homily on the past achievements and future possibilities of science.

Unlocking the secrets of DNA through high-speed modern computers is the wave of the future, he said.

“To understand that, to understand life may be the big thing that is coming in the 21st century,” he said.

Teller worked on the atomic bomb during World War II at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and later helped found the Livermore lab in California.

It was there that he worked on the H-bomb and also helped usher in the era of supercomputing, Abraham noted.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, left, grasps the hand of Dr. Edward Teller at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif. Teller received the Energy Department's highest honorary award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to science and the security of the nation.