The state forced a face-off with the Department of Energy over shipping radioactive transuranic wastes to Hanford.

DOE was poised to ship transuranic wastes to Hanford next week from a Battelle site in Columbus, Ohio. But Gov. Gary Locke and state Attorney General Christine Gregoire threatened to file a lawsuit against DOE if the shipment took place before they thought Hanford was ready.

On Wednesday, DOE temporarily delayed the shipment.

Now the state and the Department of Energy plan a teleconference Tuesday to discuss how and when Hanford should temporarily accept transuranic wastes from other DOE sites.

The transuranic wastes -- often called "TRU wastes" -- are to eventually go to a permanent underground storage site in New Mexico.

The wastes are essentially junk in barrels that has been contaminated by transuranic substances such as plutonium or neptunium. The wastes are highly radioactive and have decay rates that stretch across tens of thousands of years or longer.

DOE's nationwide cleanup plan calls for small DOE sites such as Battelle's Columbus location to ship their transuranic wastes to places like Hanford for temporary storage.

Hanford already has thousands of barrels of transuranic wastes. It also has a facility that can inspect barrels to see if they and their contents meet the New Mexico site's strict acceptance standards.

If necessary, the Hanford facility can remove banned materials from the barrels and repack them for eventual shipment to New Mexico. Most DOE sites don't have that capability.

DOE was ready to ship 150 barrels of transuranic wastes from Columbus plus another 50 barrels from a small lab near San Francisco until the state objected.

Locke and Gregoire wrote to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham that the state would file a lawsuit against DOE if it shipped the wastes to Hanford before the state was assured the site was ready.

The letter says the state had requested DOE to provide information on how much transuranic wastes exist at other DOE sites, how much DOE plans to ship to Hanford for temporary storage, how it will be stored and processed at Hanford and the schedule for moving those wastes to New Mexico.

"DOE has not satisfactorily answered those questions," Locke and Gregoire wrote. "In addition, these shipments are proposed to take place at a time that DOE has not made adequate progress in addressing the TRU waste already stored at Hanford."

The letter also requested discussions with DOE and other states on the issue.

"We need time to address legitimate public concerns, but this cannot occur with the specter of TRU waste trucks heading toward Hanford within weeks," the letter says.

Sheryl Hutchison, state Ecology Department spokeswoman, said the state's hard stance "is a camel's nose in the tent kind of thing."

The state is concerned that accepting transuranic waste now without its concerns addressed would make it easier for DOE to ship more wastes to Hanford in the future over state objections, she said.

DOE declined Friday to comment on Tuesday's upcoming talks, but provided the agency's written response to the state.

On Wednesday, DOE Hanford Manager Keith Klein wrote that DOE won't ship the Columbus wastes to Hanford next week.

Klein added: "I also want to assure you (that DOE) would conduct all activities concerning transportation, storage and any treatment of these offsite wastes at Hanford in full compliance with applicable statutes and regulations."

On Thursday, the state wrote to DOE that it will back off from its lawsuit threat pending the upcoming talks.