When Gov. Jim Gibbons appointed Nye County Commissioner Joni Eastley to the Nevada Commission on Nuclear Projects, then rescinded that appointment, he still expressed a desire to appoint a Nye County resident to the agency.

Eastley was rejected because of her pro-Yucca Mountain stance, but Gibbons has found a supporter of the state's ardent anti-Yucca position to replace her: Nye County Superintendent Rob Roberts.

The commission advises the state on nuclear matters, and an appointment was needed to fill the vacancy of Vice-Chairman Michon Mackedon, a longtime opponent of the project.

Gibbons, in rescinding Eastley's appointment, said, "This position on the Nuclear Project Commission requires a representative who shares the primary sentiment of Nevada's residents and my administration's views on the Yucca Mountain Project."

Roberts already was appointed to a state methamphetamine task force this year and is on the newly-elected governor's transition team on education. The superintendent was concerned over the amount of time his new position might require but was told it only meets quarterly, for about two hours per meeting.

"My number one concern is the education of the children of Nye County," he said.

Roberts, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, said transporting highly radioactive waste to Yucca Mountain would be risky because of the potential for terrorist strikes or an accident triggered by a bridge collapse or railroad failure.

"I have a real concern that hazardous materials coming through our state could be targeted. Once a canister is open, there could be serious degradation of life," Roberts told the Associated Press.

While the Nye County superintendent was critical of the project, Nye County commissioners have pursued a policy of either neutrality or constructive engagement in bargaining with the U.S. Department of Energy to mediate the effects of the project.

Former Sen. Richard Bryan, chairman of the Nevada Commission on Nuclear Projects, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal after Eastley's dismissal, "Nye County has been a problem for the delegation almost from the beginning."

Kirstin Searer, deputy executive director of the state Democratic Party, used the snafu to accuse Gibbons of not being honest with Nevadans on his intentions to stop the nuclear dump project.

Roberts said he doesn't know what material is classified regarding the project and doesn't know some details, like the half-life of the nuclear waste in the mountain. He did, however, relate his experience as an armor officer in the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons.

"When I was assigned to the 1st Armored Division in Germany for three years, I transported numerous convoys of fuel and conventional ammunitions. I know the hazards and risks of transporting that across thousands of miles in all types of weather," Roberts said.

When it comes to the politics of his position, however, Roberts said, "I'm not representing anybody. I'm a private citizen in this matter."

Bryan said at first glance he's pleased Roberts is joining his committee. Bryan told the Associated Press he shares Roberts' view that nuclear waste transportation is "one of the major considerations."

Roberts was an instructor and chief of the military science instruction branch at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point from 1986 to 1989. He is a Vietnam War combat veteran, serving in 1969-70 as a helicopter pilot with the 101st Airborne Division.

Nye County Commissioner Roberta "Midge" Carver, asked for comment, questioned the fairness of screening candidates by their ideological stance.

"If you wanted to be advised how people in the neighborhood felt, you would want people from both sides of the coin instead of one side. But it's his commission and it's his choice," Carver said.

Regarding another matter, Carver originally had planned to go on a fact-finding trip of nuclear waste facilities in Scandinavia, sponsored by the United States Transport Council, Aug. 25 to Sept. 1 but said she may have to cancel because of personal commitments.

She didn't make a trip last year to Japan due to knee surgery but traveled to France to view their nuclear waste processing facilities in 2005.