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The man leading the federal response effort to the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster is expected to announce Wednesday that an "integrity test" on the ruptured oil well will go forward, barring any last-minute objections from government scientists, a BP source told CNN.

Retired Adm. Thad Allen was finalizing that plan with Energy Secretary Steven Chu and other scientists involved, the source said.

The test -- to check pressure in the well and determine if it can be sealed once and for all by a custom-designed cap -- was expected to get under way Tuesday afternoon. But late Tuesday night, officials announced that additional analysis of the well testing procedure was needed. The move followed a meeting with Chu and his team of advisers, and the decision was made by the Deepwater Horizon Unified Command, which includes government agencies as well as BP.

The BP source told CNN the delay was the government's decision, saying BP employees and scientists were comfortable with "preliminary pre-testing" readings, but the government team had some concerns and wasn't ready to go to the next level.

The massive cap, which has a better seal than the last cap placed on the well, is some 30 feet high and weighs 160,000 pounds. It's hoped that it might seal the well completely. Under a worst-case scenario, however, the test might show there's more damage to the well's casing, meaning that capping the well would not stop the oil from flowing. If it's unable to contain all the oil, some could be diverted through riser pipes to ships on the surface.

The test involves incrementally closing three valves on the new cap, a process that would allow BP to do its pressure measurements.

Higher pressure readings would mean the leak is being stopped, while lower pressure indications would mean oil is escaping from other parts of the well.

When the test gets under way, both the BP and government source said it likely will proceed slowly. The generally accepted plan is to close the well so the pressure gets to about 6,500 pounds per square inch and "keep it there for a bit to watch a few things that some of the scientists are concerned about," the BP source said. The decision then would be made about whether to take the pressure up to where it needs to be to conduct the test, at about 8,300 pounds per square inch. If the plan plays out this way, a 48-hour watch period looks much more likely than the six-hour period, they said.

But officials want to ensure that if they can't build up pressure readings, they are able to pinpoint where the pressure is being relieved, BP's Wells said Wednesday.

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