Brager appointed to board

Gov. Jim Gibbons had quietly made another appointment to the Nevada Commission on Nuclear Projects, but unlike his last one, the choice that surfaced Monday isn't likely to cause an uproar among opponents of the nuclear waste repository planned for Yucca Mountain.

Susan Brager, a Democrat who is also a Clark County commissioner, was chosen by Gibbons to replace former Clark County Commissioner Myrna Williams, whose term on the state panel expired June 30.

"I will be looking into the issues of the situation and make sure I will be able to make wise decisions," Brager said Monday.

The federal government's plan for Yucca Mountain "does not seem safe to me," she said.

She returned Monday from vacationing in Southern California to find a letter from Gibbons' Boards and Commissions staff congratulating her on her appointment.

As was the case when Gibbons appointed Nye County Commissioner Joni Eastley two weeks ago to fill Michon Mackedon's seat on the Nuclear Projects Commission, the latest appointment was news to the commission's chairman Richard Bryan, the former U.S. senator and former Nevada governor.

Bryan said he was pleasantly surprised by the appointment of Brager.

"I think Susan Brager will be a fine addition to the commission and she replaces Myrna Williams who was stalwart in opposition to the dump," he said.

The commission has traditionally and outspokenly opposed the Department of Energy's effort to bury highly radioactive spent fuel and defense waste in the mountain 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Gibbons' short-lived appointment of Eastley, whose pro-Yucca views have been documented in several news articles, raised concerns among Nevada's congressional delegation which had been kept in the dark about the governor's choice.

Before attending a single meeting, Eastley abruptly resigned as Gibbons was about to carry out his pledge to rescind her appointment if he found out she was a Yucca Mountain supporter.

Gibbons communications director, Brent Boynton, said that Eastley's seat had not been filled as of Monday.

He confirmed, though, that Joan Lambert had been reappointed to serve another two-year term through June 30, 2009.

Steve Molasky's term also expired June 30. "Even though he was not formally reappointed, he continues to serve at the pleasure of the governor," Boynton said of Molasky.

The terms of Bryan, Larry Brown and Paul Workman, expire on June 30, 2008.