The Department of Energy and Fluor Hanford have shipped more than 1,000 pounds of plutonium from Hanford to a national repository in New Mexico.

On Wednesday they announced the 400th shipment of waste -- including materials such as building debris and laboratory equipment contaminated with more than 1,000 pounds of plutonium -- had left the site. That's enough waste to fill 13,500 drums.

"The key is it is permanent disposal off the site, out of the state," said Mark French, DOE project director.

But far more waste still must be shipped to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.

"This is a marathon, not a sprint," French said. "We are going to be doing it for a long time."

The Hanford nuclear reservation will produce more waste to be shipped to New Mexico as contaminated buildings are torn down and work continues at its tank farms, where 53 million gallons of radioactive waste are stored. The waste is left from the past production of plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons.

In addition, workers are digging up waste that was temporarily buried after 1970. That year, Congress ordered transuranic waste, typically building and laboratory debris contaminated with plutonium, shipped to a national repository. Until the repository opened, enough waste to fill 70,000 drums was buried in different-sized containers, although not all of it is transuranic.

"We're pleased they are continuing with shipments, but with the funding levels we have identified for fiscal years 2009 and 2010, we're concerned," said Sharon Braswell, spokeswoman for the Washington State Department of Ecology, which regulates the project.

About two truckloads a week, each holding up to 42 drums of waste, are leaving Hanford now. But the Bush administration budget proposal for fiscal year 2009 would provide only enough money to get about 50 shipments ready.

Three other sites already have shipped more transuranic waste to New Mexico for disposal than Hanford, said Ken Niles, assistant director of the Oregon Department of Energy.

The Idaho National Laboratory has made 2,787 shipments; Rocky Flats, Colo., made 2,045 shipments, leading to its closure; and Savannah River, S.C., has made 894 shipments, he said.

Hanford has been shipping transuranic waste since 2000. In those years, workers have become more efficient, in part because the site has built up a backlog of waste to ship, French said. It has been sending full truckloads now that it has a variety of waste to choose from to balance factors such as weight and radioactive content in each load.

Niles credits the good safety record nationally with shipments to cooperation among DOE and the states. With 6,588 shipments made from eight DOE sites to the New Mexico repository, there have only been a couple of minor fender benders, he said.

Trucks are required to travel specific routes, mostly interstate highways, he said. They're not allowed to travel in bad weather or if bad weather is expected.

The carriers must have proven safety records and strong internal safety controls, he said. Drivers are subject to random drug tests. Trucks are inspected before they leave Hanford, and about once a month Oregon stops a truck for a random inspection, Niles said.

In addition to steps to prevent accidents, training is provided to those who would respond to accidents along the routes and workers at nearby hospitals, he said.