Folks, Attached is the current progress assessment of NCSX through MARCH.

SCHEDULE: We continue to be about 2-3 months behind our original baseline

plan. Many tasks in support of the VV/MCC PDR do not appear to support the

June 23rd date. A critical path plot is included this month for project

engineering, WBS 12 and 14 managers to access the impact of these tasks.

(see summary analysis and detailed barcharts for specific task progress).

COST PERFORMANCE: The project's cost performance (CPI) has slipped from .96

in Jan, .91 in Feb to .84 in Mar. This slip was generally seen across all

WBS elements. (The Cost Performance Index (CPI) = .84, which translates into

accomplishing $84 worth of work for every $100 spent).

BUDGET: Consistent with being behind schedule the project continues to under

spend. Even with the 4 major R&D contracts beginning to accrue cost, the

MIE/Research Prep project is still facing a potential under run this fiscal

year of approx $1.3m ($785k PPPL and $540k ORNL). Many of these projected

under runs are driven by the institutional need to reduce discretionary

(M&S) spending. However, efforts are underway to identify and accelerate

project scope that is labor intensive. (see Budget status sheet)

Ron