OREANDA-NEWS. April 04, 2012. The Westinghouse Electric Company Board of Directors today announced that it had accepted the resignation of Jim Ferland, previously announced as incoming president and chief executive officer (CEO), and that Chairman of the Board Shigenori Shiga would assume the role of president and CEO on an interim basis, effective immediately.

Mr. Shiga, a seasoned nuclear professional with more than 30 years of experience, was appointed as the Board's chairman in 2010, and previously served as Toshiba's chief coordination officer since it acquired Westinghouse in 2006. Current Chief Operating Officer Ricardo (Ric) Perez will maintain his current duties and assist Mr. Shiga during the search for a new president and CEO.

In accepting his interim role as president and CEO, Mr. Shiga said that he was extremely confident and respectful of the existing Westinghouse senior management staff. "I am certain that they and the 14,000 Westinghouse employees will continue their excellent work to fulfill our commitments to customers and to the nuclear industry."

The Westinghouse Board is confident that Mr. Shiga and the existing senior management staff will continue to successfully manage the company as it seeks a new president and CEO to lead the company.

Westinghouse Electric Company, a group company of Toshiba Corporation (TKY:6502), is the world's pioneering nuclear energy company and is a leading supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies to utilities throughout the world. Westinghouse supplied the world's first pressurized water reactor in 1957 in Shippingport, Pa. Today, Westinghouse technology is the basis for approximately one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants, including 60 percent of those in the United States.