The National Compact Stellarator Experiment (NCSX) is the first of a new class of stellarators known as “compact stellarators.” The differentiating feature of a compact stellarator as compared to the traditional stellarator is the use of plasma current in combination with external fields to accomplish shaping and confinement. This combination permits a more compact device. The NCSX project is managed by PPPL in partnership with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

This paper will address two innovative approaches in systems engineering being applied to the NCSX Project:

• Electronic File Systems -. because the NCSX Project responsibilities are distributed between PPPL and ORNL, it was necessary to adopt innovative systems engineering approaches to ensure ready transfer and sharing of design information.

• Risk Management Systems - because the NCSX Project is a “first-of-a-kind” fusion device that is very complex and has extremely tight installation and fabrication tolerances, it was important to develop a very rigorous approach to defining and managing risks that could threaten and provide opportunities to improve project cost and schedule performance and the achievement of project technical objectives.