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External Independent Review
Completed for LCLS
By
Davide Castelvecchi
The
Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) passed a major test this summer, when
a contractor hired by the DOE’s Office of Engineering and Construction
Management (OECM) completed a review of the project’s estimated cost and
completion time.
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The future Linac Coherent Light Source
complex will be located on SLAC grounds extending from the
Research Yard eastward. (Image courtesy of LCLS) |
Due to
start operations in 2009, the $315 million project will be SLAC’s
largest development since the SLC—and the world first x-ray free
electron laser.
“The
EIR [External Independent Review] was a major review because it
established a baseline for the entire project,” says LCLS chief engineer
Mark Reichanadter.
The
review was conducted by Burns and Roe Enterprises, Inc. (BREI), an
engineering firm that specializes in large construction projects such as
power plants. The 12-strong BREI team spent seven weeks reviewing the
project and one week on the SLAC site, checking every aspect of the LCLS
organization and preliminary design, cost and schedule.
The
report contains a few recommendations about the LCLS management
structure and the need for a detailed ES&H analysis, but it found the
overall project baseline ‘complete and reasonable.’ BREI’s report was a
crucial step towards the Critical Decision 2 [Approve Project
Performance Baseline] expected later this year, and the next step in
DOE’s formal project review process.
A
concern raised in the EIR is the prospect for ramping up next year to a
full staff of 125 at the three national labs participating in the LCLS
construction. This is up from the 50 staff members (35 of them at SLAC)
presently involved in the project, since the necessary budget increase
is subject to congressional approval.
The
president’s budget for the next fiscal year slates $54 million for the
LCLS—$4 million for research and development, $20 million for
engineering design and $30 million for advanced procurements. The House
has approved the funding as part of the energy bill which now awaiting
confirmation in the Senate.
Meanwhile, the LCLS team is celebrating the good news from the EIR. “It
was great the way all partner labs teamed to present the LCLS
effectively to the EIR. It was a wonderful preview of what it’s going to
be like working together,” said John Galayda, who heads the newly
established LCLS division at SLAC.
For
more information on LCLS, see:
http://www-ssrl.slac.stanford.edu/lcls/
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