New appointments for Bernard Bigot and Robert Aymar

Bernard Bigot, the French High Commissioner for Atomic Energy since 2003, has been appointed CEA Administrator-General. He succeeds Alain Bugat, whose second three-year term at the head of CEA ended in January.

A physicist by training, Bernard Bigot was Director-General at the French Ministry of Research from 1998 to 2000 and Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Research in 2002. He will retain his function as High Commissioner and National French Coordinator for ITER.

As CEA Administrator-General, he has appointed Robert Aymar as his special adviser for ITER matters. Aymar was CERN Director-General from 2003 to 2008. As ITER Engineering Design Activities (EDA) Director in 1994 and ITER International Team Leader in 2001, Robert Aymar has been closely associated with the ITER Project for many years. A pioneer in fusion research, Aymar directed the Tore Supra project from its conceptual design in 1977 through its construction and into operation in 1988.