For Supplying Faulty Cables
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) is seeking nine billion won in damages from General Cable, the largest cable and wire company in North America.
KHNP is taking legal action against General Cable, demanding 9.05 billion won in damages for supplying faulty high-pressure cables for Shin Hanul Nuclear Reactor Units 1 and 2, said Lee Jang-seop, a lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea, on Oct. 13.
KHNP signed a contract with General Cable in September 2014. The cables were customized for Shin Hanul Nuclear Reactor Units 1 and 2. They were manufactured with special materials and in specified sizes. The cables were manufactured in Illinois and Connecticut and shipped to Korea. However, the shields of some cables, which prevent electric shocks, were found to have been damaged, in October 2015.
KHNP demanded free replacements for all shipments as damage was confirmed in shields of other cables in a sample inspection in March 2016. However, General Cable refused to provide free replacements, claiming that the damage was caused by careless installation work. Both a Korean agency and a third-party Dutch agency said the defects stemmed from the production process, but General Cable did not respond.
In the end, KHNP replaced 88 drums out of 110 drums of cables from General Cable with products from LS Cable & System in Korea and Dubai Cable in the United Arab Emirates. KHNP continued to demand compensation for losses and re-installation costs until the end of 2019. But it began to take legal action to seek compensation in January 2020. The case is currently being handled by the Korea Commercial Arbitration Board. The final decision is expected to come out in June 2021 at the earliest.