This Configuration Management Plan (CMP) describes the technical and administrative management process for controlling the National Ignition Facility (NIF) Project configuration. The complexity of the NIF Project (i.e., participation by multiple national laboratories and subcontractors involved in the development, fabrication, installation, and testing of NIF hardware and software, as well as construction and testing of Project facilities) requires implementation of the comprehensive configuration management program defined in this plan. A logical schematic illustrating how the plan functions is provided in Figure 1. A summary of the process is provided in Section 4.0, Configuration Change Control. Detailed procedures that make up the overall process are referenced. This CMP is consistent with guidance for managing a project's configuration provided in Department of Energy (DOE) Order 430.1, Guide PMG 10, ''Project Execution and Engineering Management Planning''. Configuration management is a formal discipline comprised of the following four elements: (1) Identification--defines the functional and physical characteristics of a Project and uniquely identifies the defining requirements. This includes selection of components of the end product(s) subject to control and selection of the documents that define the project and components. (2) Change management--provides a systematic method for managing changes to the project and its physical and functional configuration to ensure that all changes are properly identified, assessed, reviewed, approved, implemented, tested, and documented. (3) Data management--ensures that necessary information on the project and its end product(s) is systematically recorded and disseminated for decision-making and other uses. Identifies, stores and controls, tracks status, retrieves, and distributes documents. (4) Assessments and validation--ensures that the planned configuration requirements match actual physical configurations and approved changes are implemented according to the change requirements documents.
