The US Department of Energy Albuquerque Operations Office (DOE-AL) initiated the Comprehensive Environmental Assessment and Response Program (CEARP) to identify, evaluate, and conduct remedial actions at hazardous waste disposal and contamination sites on the eight nuclear weapons development and production installations under its jurisdiction. The CEARP is being implemented in five phases (Phase 1 - Installation Assessment, Phase 2 - Confirmation, Phase 3 - Technological Assessment, Phase 4 - Remedial Action, and Phase 5 - Compliance and Verification). During Phase 1, regulatory compliance was evaluated and disposal/contamination sites were identified. Phase 2 provides the field data for site characterization, risk assessment, determination of need for corrective action, and evaluation of possible remedial actions at hazardous waste sites. Phase 2 is being conducted in two stages (monitoring plan development/reconnaissance sampling and site characterization/remedial investigation). Problem sites across the DOE-AL complex were prioritized for site characterization and CEARP Phase 2 activities have been initiated.

The US Department of Energy's (USDOE) Albuquerque Operations Office installations are being evaluated under its Comprehensive Environmental Assessment and Response program (CEARP). The installations consist of eight weapons development and production facilities, which are located across the United States. The evaluation covers the major environmental regulations, with emphasis on the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and on the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The CEARP is intended to help fulfill USDOE obligations for federal facilities under the US Environmental Protection Agency (CERCLA Program and constitutes the same basic approach as contained in USEPA guidance to federal facilities. The Program is a phased program to identify, assess, and correct existing and potential environmental concerns relative to these regulations. The five phases are Phase I - Installation Assessment, Phase II - Confirmation, Phase III - Technological Assessment, Phase IV - Remedial Action, and Phase V - Compliance and Verification. Phase I activities and reports should be completed during 1986. The Phase II generic sampling plans, data management plans, health and safety plans, and quality assurance/quality control plans will be prepared during 1986. Significant characterization of CERCLA sites will be initiated during 1987.

The research and development program of DOE's Geothermal Technology Division is reviewed in separate presentations according to program area. Separate abstracts have been prepared for the individual papers. (ACR)

This report documents the peer review conducted by Argonne National Laboratory of a document entitled ''Draft Test Plan for In Situ Testing in an Exploratory Shaft in Salt,'' prepared for Battelle Memorial Institute's Office of Nuclear Waste Isolation by Golder Associates, Inc. In general, the peer review panelists found the test plan to be technically sound, although some deficiencies were identified. Recommendations for improving the test plan are presented in this review report. A microfiche copy of the following unpublished report is attached to the inside back cover of this report: ''Draft Test Plan for In Situ Testing in an Exploratory Shaft in Salt,'' prepared by Golder Associates, Inc., for Office of Nuclear Waste Isolation, Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio (March 1985).

The physical, chemical and biological attributes are described for: (1) a coastal marine environment centered about a Department of Energy Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) brine disposal site 11.4 km off the southwest coast of Louisiana; and (2) the lower Calcasieu and Sabine estuarine systems that provide leach waters for the SPR project. A three month sampling effort, February through April 1981, and previous investigations from the study area are integrated to establish baseline information for evaluation of impacts from brine disposal in the nearshore marine waters and from freshwater withdrawal from the coastal marsh of the Chenier Plain. January data are included for some tasks that sampled while testing and mobilizing their instruments prior to the February field effort. The study addresses the areas of physical oceanography, estuarine hydrology and hydrography, water and sediment quality, benthos, nekton, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and data management.