Coerced Cooperation
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and Westinghouse are expected to end their litigation with a U.S.-South Korea summit scheduled for this month.
The litigation started in October last year with regard to the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant in the Czech Republic. KHNP was trying to export an APR1400 reactor to the republic and the reactor is based on Combustion Engineering’s design and technology. KHNP signed a contract with the U.S. company in 1997 to use its design and technology but ownership disputes arose after Westinghouse acquired the company in 2000. KHNP claimed that the current APR1400 reactor is of its own making because it remade every key part of the reactor from 2001 to 2016.
KHNP is likely to make a concession with the summit around the corner and the U.S. government advising them to work together. The U.S. government’s stance is that cooperation between the two can lead to more effective nonproliferation and more influence of both the United States and South Korea in the global nuclear power market.
Their collaboration is likely to be discussed at the summit so that they can effectively cooperate in the project in Dukovany. The 8.8 trillion won (US$6.7 billion) project is to build one 1,200 MW plant and KHNP, Westinghouse, and EDF are competing. The supplier will be selected in March next year.