Hanford and the Nevada Test Site have been recommended to receive low-level and mixed low-level radioactive wastes from most of the rest of the Department of Energy's sites.

If this happens, the amount of wastes to be checked and buried - likely in the 200 West Area's trenches - will increase.

A DOE "preference document"is scheduled to be filed today in the Federal Register in Washington, D.C. The document is an advance notice of DOE's final decision on which sites accept low-level and mixed low-level wastes from other DOE locations and which will take care of their own.

Now, the host states will figure out what they want to change DOE's mind. DOE's final decision cannot occur sooner than 30 days from today.

How much extra waste could end up at Hanford is a big question.

Information sent Thursday to Richland by DOE's Washington, D.C., headquarters was "nonspecific on amounts and origins of the wastes,"said Rudy Guercia, DOE's acting director of its waste division at Hanford, and Mike Wilson, the Washington Department of Ecology's nuclear waste program manager.

At this time, Washington state knows Hanford would be accepting more low-level wastes than it is now, Wilson said. And any mixed low-level wastes would be extra because Hanford currently does not accept it. Hanford presently accepts low-level wastes for burial from DOE sites and labs at Paducah, Ky., and Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, N.Y., as well as Ohio, California and Illinois. But Hanford quit accepting mixed low-level waste in 1992, pending the upcoming waste disposal decision, Guercia said.

Low-level wastes are slightly radioactive items such as clothes, rags, containers and some equipment. Mixed low-level wastes are somewhat the same, with hazardous chemicals added.

The state of Washington has been braced for this impending decision. The state wants to talk to DOE regarding accepting more out-of-state wastes without something in return, said Tim Fitzsimmons, director of the state's ecology department.

If Hanford accepts more out-of-state DOE wastes, Fitzsimmons said he wants to explore getting extra assurances, money or support from DOE on cleaning up Hanford.

How the state actually will respond to DOE's impending decision will depend on what details become available after the filing in the Federal Register, Fitzsimmons said. This matter is one piece of an overall DOE planning effort to figure out which locations would be the best permanent storage locations for various wastes, including low-level and mixed low-level wastes.

A 1997 DOE study looked at potential impacts in a general way on 17 sites, including Hanford. That study noted that bringing low-level or mixed low-level wastes to Hanford likely would increase ground water contamination. Utility improvements would be needed. And some mitigation measure may be needed outside of Hanford because of the increased traffic, the study speculated.

These wastes usually are in barrels, with strict regulations on bookkeeping, labeling and structural durability of the drums.