By Andrew Doughman, Nevada News Bureau: Gov. Brian Sandoval has appointed a veteran administrator to keep up the fight against placing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Southern Nevada.
Joseph C. Strolin, formerly a planning division administrator for the Agency for Nuclear Projects, has agreed to be acting director of the agency until the governor can find a permanent director.
Strolin had retired in 2009, after which he consulted for the agency on a part-time basis.
During his career, Strolin helped compile more than 200 reports on the socioeconomic, transportation and risk effects associated with the proposed waste site.
Sandoval, who named Strolin to the position Wednesday, said Strolin’s four decades of service will be “extremely beneficial” as the state continues to fight against the site.
In a press release yesterday, the governor’s staff noted that Strolin will not take his consulting pay or his retirement benefits while serving as acting director for the nuclear projects agency.
Sandoval appointed the former director Bruce Breslow to lead the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Strolin’s appointment comes as the state of Nevada continues its legal fight against the proposed Yucca mountain site.
