Appointment of the AREVA Executive Board

The Supervisory Board of AREVA, meeting today under the chairmanship of Jean-Cyril Spinetta, appointed Luc Oursel Chairman of the Executive Board. It also appointed Philippe Knoche, Sébastien de Montessus and Olivier Wantz members of the Executive Board.

The group’s Supervisory Board thanks Anne Lauvergeon very warmly for the work she accomplished over the past 10 years to turn AREVA into a global leader in nuclear power and carbon-free energies.  

The Supervisory Board calls attention to the success of the integrated business model developed by Anne Lauvergeon, enabling the group to cover nuclear power plant design and construction, related services, and every stage of the fuel cycle, and to offer services to its customers specific to their requirements. At the same time, the group developed a full range of solutions in renewable energies. 

“The appointment of Mr. Luc Oursel and of the Executive Board is a continuation of the efforts deployed since AREVA’s establishment,” stated Jean Cyril Spinetta.

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Luc Oursel, 51, is a graduate of the Ecole nationale supérieure des Mines de Paris and holds the rank of senior engineer of Mines. He began his career with the Regional Department of Industry and Research for the Rhone-Alps region in 1984, where he headed up the "energy and mineral resources" division. In 1988, he joined the Ministry of Industry's Department of Natural Gas, Electricity and Coal, where he was in charge of the electricity department and subsequently deputy to the director of natural gas, electricity and coal. In February 1991, he joined the cabinet of the French minister of Defense as technical advisor in charge of industrial affairs, armament programs and research.

Luc Oursel joined the Schneider Electric group in 1993, first as CEO of SAE Gardy, and later as CEO of Schneider Shanghai Industrial Control. In 1998, he was named President & CEO of Schneider Electric Italia and became industrial director of Schneider Electric in 2001. In 2002, he joined the Sidel group as Executive Vice President of Sidel Solutions (sales, services, engineering). He became Vice President in charge of Geodis international subsidiaries end of 2004 and in 2006 was named CEO of the group.

On January 2nd, 2007, Luc Oursel became President and CEO of AREVA NP and a member of the Executive Committee and Nuclear Executive Committee of AREVA. On March 22nd, 2007, AREVA's Supervisory Board named him as a member of the Executive Board of AREVA. In 2009, he is appointed Executive Officer, in charge or nuclear operations. In January 2011, he was promoted to Managing Director and COO, International, Marketing and Projects.

Luc Oursel is also a member of the Safran and Souriau Supervisory Boards and is President of SFEN (Société Française de l'Energie Nucléaire).

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Philippe Knoche, 42, is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and of the Ecole des Mines. From 1995 he served as anti-dumping case handler in the European Commission, as well as in the corporate field.

He joined COGEMA in 2000 in charge of industrial holdings and AREVA in 2001 as Senior Vice President in charge of Strategy. In 2004 he was appointed Executive Vice President in charge of AREVA’s Treatment (reprocessing) Business Unit. From 2006 to 2009, he had been the Project Director for AREVA´s EPRTM reactor in Olkiluoto, Finland. Philippe Knoche was appointed Senior Executive Vice-President Reactors & Services Business Group in 2010.

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Sébastien de Montessus, 36, is a graduate of the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP). His career began as an investment banker in London, where he worked on mergers and takeovers at Morgan Stanley. He then founded and sold a telecommunications company before joining AREVA’s Strategy Department in 2002.

In 2004, Sébastien de Montessus was appointed member of the AREVA T&D management committee, in charge of strategy and marketing. He was appointed Executive Vice President of the Mining Business Unit in 2007 and became Executive Vice President of the Mining Business Group in January 2010.

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Olivier Wantz, 51, is a graduate of the Institut d’Administration des Entreprises in Paris. He joined SIEMENS in 1983 where he held various positions first in the field of medical engineering, then in 1995 in telecommunications within the Australian subsidiary. In 2000 he was appointed Chief Financial Officer of SIEMENS Transportation System.

Olivier Wantz joined AREVA in 2005 as Chief Financial Officer of the subsidiary AREVA NP. In 2010 he was appointed Engineering and Projects Senior Executive Vice President.