Abstract
Cost overruns at the Department of Energy's National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California have led Energy Secretary Bill Richardson to initiate a major overhaul of the huge laser project. Cost overruns for the $1.2 billion project being constructed at Lawrence Iivermore National Laboratory could reach $300 million, say DOE officials and others who wish not to be identified. NIF's overruns were turned up during a recent DOE review. NIF's 192-beam laser facility is a key part of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile stewardship program and is intended to investigate thermonuclear physics without nuclear blasts. It will also investigate controlled nuclear fusion as a potential energy source. In a statement, Richardson said top LLNL officials had kept him in the dark about cost problems as late as June, when, Richardson said, he was told NIF was 'on cost and on schedule.' In response to the new information, Richardson decided • An expert panel will be created to look into ...
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