The Office of Science and Technology (OST) of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Environmental Management (EM) recently has instituted a peer review program that uses the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), with administrative and technical support provided by the Institute for Regulatory Science (RSI), to conduct peer reviews of technologies (or groups of technologies) at various stages of development. OST asked the NRC to convene an expert committee to evaluate the effectiveness of its new peer review program and to make specific recommendations to improve the program, if appropriate. This is the first of two reports to be prepared by this committee on OST's new peer review program. OST requested this interim report to provide a preliminary assessment of OST's new peer review program. In the final report, the committee will provide a more detailed assessment of OST's peer review program after its first complete annual cycle.