By Marie Maitre
PARIS, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Areva Chief Executive Anne Lauvergeon could be replaced in June when her mandate expires, after a decade-long reign at the helm of a state body she turned into the world's biggest nuclear group.
Following is a list of possible successors, by alphabetical order:
JEAN-PIERRE CLAMADIEU
The X-Mines graduate has spent nearly two decades in the French chemical industry and is credited for turning around a nearly bankrupt Rhodia, which he had headed since 2003.
Observers say the discreet 52-year old could foster peaceful relations between Areva and its top shareholder, the government.
LAURENT COLLET-BILLON
Collet-Billon's name only recently joined the list of Lauvergeon's possible successors and the 60-year old telecom military engineer is probably the least known to the public.
The low-key graduate of the national school of aerospace worked for France's arms procurement agency, where he was involved in negotiations surrounding cost overruns on the Airbus A400M military transporter, giving him an industrial clout.
ANNE-MARIE IDRAC
A high civil servant, who successively headed Parisian transports firm RATP and politically-sensitive French trains operator SNCF between 2002 and 2008, has been looking for a new job since losing her foreign trade junior ministry in November.
Her profile and political background mean her relationship with Areva's top shareholder, the government, would likely be smoother than under Lauvergeon, but the 59 year old graduate from the top-flight ENA school may lack an industrial profile.
MARWAN LAHOUD
The military engineer is a graduate from the Ecole Polytechnique and from the prestigious school of aerospace.
The 44-year-old has overseen a number of big projects at missile maker MBDA and as strategy chief at EADS. People who have worked with him describe the Lebanese-born executive as a brilliant mind, eloquent and charismatic with a formidable address book and a deep knowledge of the Middle East -- a region Areva sees as key development area.
He is the brother of computer specialist Imad Lahoud, convicted for conspiracy to slander in the Clearstream case -- France's biggest political scandal in recent history, involving faked documents to link Sarkozy to a corruption investigation.
YAZID SABEG
The Algerian-born businessman has long been tipped for the job but Sarkozy's office last year dismissed the talk as "groundless". Analysts doubt the 61-year-old, who worked for a building company before founding real estate broker Quadral in 1990, fits the industrial criteria to take over Areva.
But the hunting enthusiast, who chairs CS Communication & Systemes and is a government commissioner for diversity, is reportedly close to EDF CEO Henri Proglio -- who is himself close to Sarkozy and has been publicly critical of Lauvergeon's management of Areva.
THE MYSTERY PERSON
One ministerial source refused to name a possible further candidate, saying only the person was was an "active politician who is not a minister."
(Additional reporting by Benjamin Mallet; Editing by David Holmes)