"EDF believes in the benefits that new nuclear would bring to the United States and remains committed to making new nuclear a reality.” said Thomas Piquemal, Group Senior Executive Vice President Finance
– Edited By Tom Lamar –
EDF S.A. (EDF) today announced the appointment of Eric Bret as President & CEO of EDF Inc., with senior executive responsibility for EDF's new nuclear project in the US market through UniStar and for EDF's ownership interest in Constellation Energy Nuclear Group, the joint venture with Constellation Energy, regarding five existing nuclear reactors in the US. Mr. Bret will also assume the positions of Chairman of the Board of Directors EDF Inc. and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of CENG, and he will serve as directors on the boards of UniStar and EDF-Trading North America LLC. Mr. Bret will report to Thomas Piquemal, Group Senior Executive Vice President Finance, who has taken responsibility of the US activities as part of EDF's new strategic structure. Mr. Bret's appointment is effective January 1, 2011 following his relocation to EDF's North American headquarters in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
With 28 years of experience at EDF, Mr. Bret has extensive nuclear expertise, including service as Deputy Vice President of the EDF generation fleet since 2006. In this capacity, Mr. Bret has had oversight of EDF's nuclear power plant operations in France, including 58 reactors at 19 sites.
Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Bret said, "I am excited to transition to a new and exciting role at EDF. Our North American activities are important to EDF's future development. I look forward to working with our talented team in Chevy Chase and to continuing to build upon our activities in the US."
Mr. Piquemal said, "Eric joins a very capable EDF team in Maryland, which thanks to the leadership of Jean-Pierre Benque, has created a strong foundation from which EDF can grow in the United States and we are grateful for Jean-Pierre's service. Eric's expertise in nuclear build and operations and his exceptional leadership ability make him perfectly suited to bring a new momentum to our North American operations.
"EDF believes in the benefits that new nuclear would bring to the United States and remains committed to making new nuclear a reality. The appointment of Eric as President of EDF's US operations is a first step towards a new organization reflecting the fact that EDF is now the sole owner of UniStar. EDF is now focusing on next steps for the Calvert Cliffs 3 project. EDF is ready to commit further resources and efforts to pursue the next stage in the development of CC3, including obtaining a suitable federal loan guarantee, with a view to making a further investment decision if the right conditions come together. We continue to be grateful for the support we have received from elected officials, both at the federal and state level, organized labor and community leaders," added Mr. Piquemal.
Mr. Bret joined EDF in 1982, when he began his engineering career as a training instructor. He rapidly moved to become the head of the safety/quality team of a nuclear power plant before becoming deputy head and then head of a 900MW power plant in France. He managed the 900MW Cruas-Meysse nuclear power plant until being promoted to Deputy Vice President of the EDF generation fleet in 2006. In addition, Mr. Bret was instrumental in the EDF teams supporting the start up operations of nuclear power plants in South Africa (Koeberg 1 & 2) and in China (Daya Bay 1 & 2). Mr. Bret graduated from the Lyons Chemistry and Physics Institute in France.