MANCHESTER, England, June 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
NuGen, the UK's new nuclear build developer, today (1 June) announced that Tom Samson will take over as Chief Executive Officer to lead the company's Moorside Project.
Mr. Samson is a globally-renowned mega-infrastructure development specialist, with extended experience in developing organisational structures, corporate governance, and joint-venture partnership relations.
He will be leaving his post as Chief Operating Officer at Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), based in Abu Dhabi, where he has helped develop the company delivering new nuclear units at Barakah, which will supply up to 25 per cent of the Emirate's electricity by 2020.
Mr. Samson will continue to drive NuGen forward to create a company capable of delivering the next generation of nuclear reactors to provide safe, reliable and secure electricity to the United Kingdom with the planned development and delivery of the Moorside Project, one of the largest infrastructure projects in Europe. The project aims to build three reactors capable of producing seven per cent of the UK's future electricity at the site, to the north and west of Sellafield, West Cumbria.
UK-born Mr. Samson completed his Bachelor of Engineering studies at Edinburgh's Napier University in 1990 and began his career in Manchester at GEC Alstom as a design engineer working on CCGT power plants before joining Marubeni
Corporation, where over the years he has undertaken a number of leadership roles in energy and infrastructure projects in the USA, Caribbean, UAE and Europe, gaining a reputation for creating shareholder value and delivering successful projects.
He takes over from interim Chief Executive Sandy Rupprecht, who successfully developed and concluded the negotiations that led to Toshiba and ENGIE (formerly GDF SUEZ) becoming new owners of NuGen in 2014 - and who re-established the company as a credible nuclear project developer.
NuGen's Chairman, Shigenori Shiga said the company was delighted to announce the news.
"We warmly welcome Tom Samson to NuGen. Mr. Samson is an internationally renowned large infrastructure project developer. He has a strong track record in project development and successful project delivery in the power sector, a wealth of experience of working in a multinational environment and cross cultures, longterm vision and strong leadership. We are confident his expertise and experience will advance our exciting project."
The company entered a first-stage public consultation as part of its Development Consent Order work, and is consulting with the general public at 22 venues across Cumbria between May and July.
Mr. Samson will now lead NuGen as the company takes forward detailed plans for one of the largest infrastructure projects in Europe, on the path to becoming a leading UK power producer.
Notes to editors
NuGen is a UK nuclear company owned by Toshiba and ENGIE (formally GDF SUEZ).
When fully operational, the planned Moorside reactors will have a combined capacity of 3.4 GW, enough to power up to six million homes. The first of the three Westinghouse AP1000 reactors is targeted to come online in 2024. NuGen's Moorside project will help support the UK Government's low carbon and energy security objectives at a time when existing power plants are retiring and low carbon generation is required to meet national and international commitments.
Construction of the new reactors will create thousands of skilled jobs over the next decade, and the project is expected to significantly boost the local, regional and national economies, with a large portion of the development and construction programmes accessible to the UK supply chain.
AP1000 is a trademark of Westinghouse Electric Company LLC. All rights reserved.
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