A task force that US Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson had appointed to investigate the National Ignition Facility reported that the project's problems are the result of unrealistic design expectations and inadequate management. In September 1999, the US Department of Energy announced that the $1.2 billion facility is nearly two years behind schedule and faces cost overruns of up to $350 million.

The panel faulted overly optimistic expectations of the costs and time needed to construct and assemble the 192-laser device. However, it concluded that technical or managerial obstacles will not prevent the completion of the fusion research facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif.