Dipesh Shah

This article is part of the Nuclear Spin project of Spinwatch.

Dipesh Shah is a former chief executive of the UKAEA. He became a non-executive director of Thames Water Utilities in October 2007 and is also a non-executive director on the boards of JKX Oil & Gas Plc (where he is chairman of the Remuneration Committee), The Crown Estate, EU Fund for Energy, and Climate Change and Infrastructure (the Marguerite Fund).

Background

Dipesh Shah was chief executive of UKAEA from November 2003 until November 2006. Before UKAEA he worked for BP, including as chief economist for BP Oil UK and managing director and CEO of BP Solar International. Between 2000 and 2002, he was vice president and general manager for global acquisitions and divestments for BP.

Previously he was also chairman of the Viridian Group, the Northern Ireland energy company and a non-executive director of Babcock International Group plc. He has served as a member of DTI’s Renewable Energy Advisory Committee (1994 – 2002) and was on four occasions chairman of the European Photovoltaics (Solar) Industry Association.

Leaving

In June 2006 a statement from UKAEA said that Shah would not be extending his contract when his current 3-year term expired in November that year. Shah said:

I have thoroughly enjoyed my term at UKAEA and, with the support of staff, we have achieved some notable successes. We have developed radical new plans that bring forward the decommissioning of our sites by up to 35 years and reduce the cost to the tax-payer by over £1 billion; won Ministerial approval for our business plan to create a vibrant, competitive new British company; entered into an alliance with world-class businesses, AMEC and CH2MHILL; played a key role in the international fusion effort; and taken forward the vision for the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus to create the premier such campus in the UK.