Unauthorized pay raise or not, Yucca still poses serious safety issues

It's clear that Bob Loux is guilty of, at a minimum, poor judgment in granting himself and other staff members in the Nuclear Projects Office raises above the level authorized by the state.

But it's troubling to think that lack of judgment may have jeopardized the mission of his agency, which is to assure that the health, safety, and welfare of Nevada's citizens are protected with regard to the Yucca Mt. nuclear waste project.

Proponents of the project probably see Loux's poor judgment as an opportunity to blur the very serious longterm safety concerns his office has raised about Yucca Mt.

But let's not mistake the two issues. Nevadans have said repeatedly they do not want Yucca Mountain to open as a nuclear waste dump, and they're resentful of a federal bureaucracy fueled by nuclear industry lobbyists that doesn't listen to those concerns and ignores the science that should have canceled the project long ago.

The Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects has an important mission, and it's time to ask whether Loux has damaged his credibility to the extent where he can no longer be effective at its helm.

It looks to us like it's time for someone free of personal and political baggage to take the lead of the agency. And let's make sure it's someone who's willing to make the authorized amount of $114,088, not the $151,542 Loux was taking.