[CPEO-MEF] CONSTRUCTION OF THE NATIONAL IGNITION FACILITY

[Susan Gawarecki <loc@icx.net>]

>From the May 26 ANS email broadcast:  CONSTRUCTION OF THE NATIONAL
IGNITION FACILITY will move ahead better funded and with a new schedule,
Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson announced on May 3. "The underlying
science of the NIF is sound, but we have to get the project back on
track," said Richardson. "With today's decision, the NIF will be a
significant force in maintaining the nation's nuclear deterrent without
nuclear testing." NIF funding levels will be increased by approximately
$95 million in fiscal year 2001, and by $100 to $150 million in fiscal
year 2002, depending on the results of a detailed review, according to
the DOE. That funding level could allow the first NIF laser beams to
come on line in 2004, with all laser beams functional in 2008. How much
of the funding will be obtained from cutbacks in other DOE defense
programs and in Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's budget, as
originally proposed, was not announced. Details will be included in a
new fiscal year 2001 NIF budget and interim rebaselining report, which
was due to Congress by June 1, according to the DOE. The original goal
for NIF called for some operational laser beams in 2002, and project
completion in 2004. Scaled-down substitutes for the 192-laser NIF were
suggested, but were rejected by Richardson.
-- 
==================================================
Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director
Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee, Inc.
136 S Illinois Ave, Ste 208, Oak Ridge, TN 37830
Phone (865) 483-1333; Fax (865) 482-6572; E-mail loc@icx.net 
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