modules so tightly packed that in-place maintenance was impossible. Another redesign followed, this time allowing the modules to be removed from the bays for servicing. Continuing problems further delayed operations, and in September 1999, an updated DOE report stated that NIF required up to $350 million more and completion occur only in 2006. Re-baseline and GAO report, 1999–2000 Throughout this period the problems with NIF were not reported up the management chain. In 1999 then Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson reported to Congress that NIF was on time and budget, as project leaders had reported. In August that year it was revealed that neither claim was close to the truth. As the Government Accountability Office (GAO) would later note, "Furthermore, the Laboratory's former laser director, who oversaw NIF and all other laser activities, assured Laboratory managers, DOE, the university, and the Congress that the NIF project was adequately funded and staffed and was continuing on cost and schedule, even while he was briefed on clear and growing evidence that NIF had serious problems". A DOE Task Force reported to Richardson in January 2000 that "organizations of the NIF project failed to implement program and project management procedures and processes commensurate with a major research and development project... [and that] ...no one gets a passing grade on NIF Management: not the DOE's office of Defense Programs, not the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and not the University of California". Given the budget problems, the US Congress requested an independent GAO review. They returned a critical report in August 2000 estimating that the cost was likely to be $3.9 billion, including R&D, and that the facility was unlikely to be completed anywhere near on time. The report noted management problems for the overruns, and criticized the program for failing to budget money for target fabrication, including it in operational costs instead of development. In 2000 the DOE began a comprehensive "rebaseline review" because of the technical delays and project management issues, and adjusted the schedule and budget accordingly. 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