Korea's settlement with Westinghouse paves way for future cooperation, Czech plant deal

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Korea's settlement with Westinghouse paves way for future cooperation, Czech plant deal

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power employees cheer upon hearing the announcement on July 17, 2024, that the company was selected as the preferred bidder for a nuclear power project in the Czech Republic. [YONHAP]

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power employees cheer upon hearing the announcement on July 17, 2024, that the company was selected as the preferred bidder for a nuclear power project in the Czech Republic. [YONHAP]



[NEWS IN FOCUS]
 
Korea’s settlement with Westinghouse, a major U.S. nuclear power plant supplier, has removed a major hurdle standing in the way of the country’s efforts to boost the export of nuclear reactors as well as finalize a big deal with the Czech Republic.
 
The detailed conditions of the settlement remain undisclosed, but two state-run energy companies from Korea and Westinghouse agreed to resolve the intellectual property dispute and vowed further cooperation for the deployment of nuclear power during a ceremony held in the United States on Jan. 16.
 

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The involved parties — Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), the Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco) and Westinghouse — announced the decision in a statement released Friday.
 
Nuclear reactors operate in Dukovany, Czech Republic [YONHAP]

Nuclear reactors operate in Dukovany, Czech Republic [YONHAP]

 
The dispute dates back 2022 when Westinghouse filed an intellectual property complaint against the Korean corporations, claiming that the underlying technologies for KHNP’s nuclear power plant model APR1400 are based on licensed Westinghouse intellectual properties.
 
The company went on to appeal the Czech Republic’s decision last year to select KHNP as the preferred bidder to construct two nuclear reactors worth around 24 trillion won ($16.4 billion).
 
The appeal and the ongoing domestic political unrest following President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law decree further clouded the prospects of finalizing the deal in March, but a recent agreement between the Seoul and Washington fostered amicable relations.
 
Seoul’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced last week that they officially signed the "Inter-Agency MOU on Principles for Korea-U.S. Nuclear Energy Exports and Cooperation" with the U.S. Department of Energy and the State Department in Washington.
 
The inter-government memorandum of understanding means the allies’ companies could form a team or consortium for overseas projects.
 
U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm celebrated the settlement, looking forward to future cooperation.
 
“Today’s agreement between Westinghouse and the Republic of Korea companies Kepco and KHNP marks an exceptional accomplishment, which could pave the way for hundreds of billions of dollars in cooperative projects moving forward while creating and maintaining hundreds of thousands of jobs in the civil nuclear sector,” the secretary said in a statement.
 
Kepco CEO Kim Dong-chel echoed the remarks, saying that the decision could “ease uncertainties from legal disputes and actively pursue overseas nuclear power plant projects."
 
Westinghouse President & CEO Patrick Fragman also noted in a statement, “As the world demands more firm baseload power, we look forward to opportunities for cooperation to deploy nuclear power at even greater scale.”
 
Still, industry insiders and experts are keeping tabs on the undisclosed conditions. Some suspect that the KHNP could offer a certain amount of royalty fees to Westinghouse while others predict that the two sides could divide their regions of focus.
 
“It is the right decision for both Korea and the United States to join hands against China and Russia, which are aggressively moving into the nuclear power market,” said a professor who spoke on condition of anonymity.
 
“But profitability could erode compared to an independent entry if, say, Korea is responsible for the Middle Eastern region and Westinghouse for Europe.”

BY PARK EUN-JEE, KIM KI-HWAN [[email protected]]
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