Page "National Ignition Facility" Paragraph 45

Early technical delays and project management issues caused the DOE to begin a comprehensive " Rebaseline Validation Review of the National Ignition Facility Project " in 2000, which took a critical look at the project, identifying areas of concern and adjusting the schedule and budget to ensure completion.

John Gordon, National Nuclear Security Administrator, stated " We have prepared a detailed bottom-up cost and schedule to complete the NIF project … The independent review supports our position that the NIF management team has made significant progress and resolved earlier problems ".

The report revised their budget estimate to $ 2. 25 billion, not including related R & D which pushed it to $ 3. 3 billion total, and pushed back the completion date to 2006 with the first lines coming online in 2004.