hi kids, today we’ll be looking at the dispute between the Westinghouse Electric Company (United States) and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP, along with its parent company, KEPCO). It will be a short one for today.
The dispute between Westinghouse and KHNP was centered on the intellectual property rights behind South Korea’s APR-1000 and APR-1400 nuclear reactor designs. Westinghouse argues that these designs incorporate technology from its older System 80/80+ reactors, developed by Combustion Engineering before it was acquired by Westinghouse. KHNP, on the other hand, insists that these designs are their original, and that they hold the right to export them without further permission.
^ KHNP’s APR-1400 reactor design
In October 2022, Westinghouse filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (D.C.) to try and block KHNP from exporting their APR designs without Westinghouse’s approval. KHNP argued that Westinghouse lacked sufficient amounts of evidence to enforce U.S. export laws. In September 2023, the court dismissed Westinghouse’s case.
Later on, when KHNP won a contract to build reactors for the Dukovany nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic, both Westinghouse and France’s EDF filed appeals on the grounds that KHNP did not have the legal rights to export the APR-1000 reactor without their consent. The Czech Republic agreed to temporarily block the signing of the contract.
In January 2025, the two sides agreed on a settlement. The agreement, while widely confidential and controversial, stands that Westinghouse, KEPCO, and KHNP to dismiss any ongoing legal actions and start a coorporate relationship. Reports say that the deal requires KHNP to pay licensing fees and work with Westinghouse on certain export projects.
However, this deal sparked controversy. In South Korea, lawmakers and media outlets criticized the agreement as a “slave contract”, arguing that it compromised the nation’s nuclear industry and imposed heavy financial burdens on each reactor that KHNP exported.
^ President of KHNP who recently offered to step down amid controversy over its settlement with Westinghouse.
For Westinghouse, the settlement secured recognition for their intellectual property claims and gave them guaranteed revenues from international reactor sales. For KHNP, it provided legal clarity to continue to pursue its dream of international exportation, though at the cost of royalties and restrictions. The Czech Republic is expected to proceed under this new agreement.
that’s it for today kids. remember, all roads lead to Rome.
DasBlog 
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