KHNP, KEPCO sued by Westinghouse over reactor exports to Poland

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) and Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) face a lawsuit by Westinghouse accusing the Korean state enterprises of infringing on the U.S. company’s original reactor design and technology.

According to industry sources on Monday, Westinghouse filed a lawsuit against KHNP and KEPCO in the U.S. Court for the District of Columbia, claiming that Korea’s APR 1400 reactors that KHNP and KEPCO are seeking to export to Poland incorporates the design of the System 80 reactor of Combustion Engineering, which was taken over by Westinghouse in 2000. This requires the Korean companies to gain approval from Westinghouse and the U.S. Department of Energy to export APR 1400 reactors, the U.S. firm argued.

Westinghouse insists that the technology used in the APR 1400 is subject to the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, and that the KHNP already admitted the fact when it exported four units of APR 1400 to the United Arab Emirates in 2010.

The U.S. energy firm is asking the court to block its competitor KHNP’s potential deal to sell the reactor with Poland and further with the Czech Republic and Saudi Arabia.

If it wins the legal battle, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s new energy policy to bring back nuclear power generation to the list of the country’s major energy sources will hit a snag. Yoon earlier announced the nuclear energy roadmap to export 10 reactor units by 2030.

Westinghouse is also vying to win over the new nuclear project in Poland in competition with KHNP and France’s EDF. The Polish government plans to build six units of 6-9GW pressurized water reactors and select the final winner for the deal by the end of the year.

The three are competing in the Czech Republic as well, which is introducing a reactor by 2036 with an option to add three more units. The preferred bidder will be named by 2024.

Upon the news about the lawsuit, concerns over the nuclear alliance between Seoul and Washington are growing. Yoon and Biden committed to greater Seoul-Washington nuclear energy collaboration and the development and global deployment of advanced reactors and small modular reactors during their summit talks in May.

KHNP successfully clinched a nuclear project in El Dabaa, Egypt in August, 13 years after the Barakah deal in UAE, raising expectations for its winning of the project in Poland. The Polish government praises Korea’s building capability and price competitiveness. Demand for business cooperation also is high in the fields of defense and advanced technologies such as for semiconductors and batteries.

The Korean firm reportedly is close to signing a letter of intent with PGE and ZEPAK in Poland by the end of the month for the second nuclear project in the country. Experts suspect Westinghouse might file the latest lawsuit to put a brake on Korea’s exclusive supplies to Poland.

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