(Bloomberg) -- Electricite de France SA appointed a new head of nuclear plant projects as the utility struggles with the construction of new reactors in the UK and prepares plans to build at least six new atomic units in France.

Thierry Le Mouroux, a member of EDF’s executive committee, will become senior executive vice president with responsibility for the group’s Projects and Construction Directorate from April 1, the company said in a statement on Friday.

Xavier Ursat, the executive in charge of new nuclear projects and engineering, will become senior executive vice president with responsibility for the Strategy, Technologies, Innovation and Development Directorate. This will “act as project owner for nuclear construction projects” and drive nuclear development abroad, EDF said.

The appointments, part of a broader reshuffle at the executive committee, come as Chief Executive Officer Luc Remont is under pressure to boost the debt-laden company’s performance to cope with the ballooning cost of its Hinkley Point C nuclear project in the UK and the prospect of soaring capital expenditure to build new atomic plants in France.

“We are currently seeing an unprecedented recovery in nuclear power, which brings considerable challenges for EDF,” Remont said in the statement. “Our organization and the way we work is evolving to deliver further improvements in performance and ensure that our nuclear projects are successful.”

Earlier this year, EDF raised the budget of the two reactors it’s building at Hinkley Point in the UK to as much as £47.9 billion ($60.4 billion), citing labor shortages, supply chain issues, and longer-than-expected cable and pipe-fitting works. It’s also working to complete the basic design of six new reactors to be built in France, which could cost about €67.4 billion ($72 billion), and is seeking to develop a so-called small modular reactor by the start of the next decade.

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