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Westinghouse ends KHNP legal dispute


Above: Settling the legal clash between Westinghouse and KHNP opens the door to other projects using the APR1400


US-based Westinghouse Electric Company has announced a global settlement agreement with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and its parent company Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) to resolve their long- standing intellectual property dispute. Westinghouse filed a case in October 2022 with the District Court for the District of Columbia (DC) seeking to prevent KHNP and Kepco from exporting the APR1400 reactor design without its permission. The suit claimed that the APR1400 design includes technology licensed by Westinghouse based on the original design and technology of its APR1000 model and requires its permission before being transferred for use in other countries as well as requiring royalty payments. KHNP in turn filed countersuits demanding


that Westinghouse should withdraw the case. It argued that the US Atomic Energy Act grants authority to enforce the law exclusively to the US Attorney General and not to other entities as a means of claiming rights through litigation. The DC District Court in September 2023


accepted KHNP’s argument and dismissed the case. However, a final ruling by the arbitration panel was not expected until late 2025. Following the settlement, the terms of which remain confidential, Westinghouse said it “will work with Kepco and KHNP to dismiss all current legal actions”. It added: “This agreement allows both parties to move forward with certainty in the pursuit and deployment of new nuclear reactors. The agreement also sets the stage for future cooperation between the parties to advance new nuclear projects.” Kepco CEO Kim Dong said the two sides


restored their traditional 50-year ties through this agreement. “Based on this, Kepco can now take part in securing overseas nuclear power plant contracts more actively as the settlement resolves uncertainties due to legal conflicts.” Canada’s Cameco, which acquired


Westinghouse in 2023 in a strategic partnership with Brookfield Asset Management and its affiliate Brookfield Renewable Partners and institutional partners, also welcomed the agreement, which came several days after the US and South Korea signed an agreement


covering exports of nuclear technology. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Principles Concerning Nuclear Exports & Cooperation finalised a provisional understanding reached in November. US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm described the agreement as “an exceptional accomplishment which could pave the way for hundreds of billions of dollars in cooperative projects moving forward”. She added that the agreement “will promote civil nuclear energy cooperation as an exceptionally strong and enduring component of US–Republic of Korea relations”. In July 2024, despite the ongoing dispute, a


Korean consortium led by KHNP was selected by the Czech government as its preferred bidder to build up to four APR1000 nuclear power units in the country. The other bidders were EDF and Westinghouse. The Korean consortium is now expected to sign a $17.1bn deal for the reactors by the end of March. According to Korean press reports, KHNP


may have made considerable concessions, such as agreeing to pay royalties or sharing future contracts with Westinghouse. In September 2024, the Korean government suggested that one way to resolve the dispute was for KHNP to buy equipment from Westinghouse. When KHNP won a bid to build nuclear


reactors at the Barakah plant in the UAE in 2009, it reached an agreement with Westinghouse to drop objections about intellectual property right violations in exchange for sourcing key parts, including reactor coolant pumps and turbines, from the American company. “Sources in the nuclear power industry estimate that around $2bn of the $18.6bn budget of the Barakah project went to Westinghouse to pay for parts and materials,” the Hankyoreh newspaper reported. Korea’s Trade Ministry released an additional


statement referring to “a generic statement in which we said the two companies could reach a mutually beneficial outcome through cooperation in various areas, rather than through a legal conflict. Nothing has been decided about supplying equipment for the Czech nuclear reactors.” ■


round up


NEW BUILD RUSSIA’S GOVERNMENT HAS approved the General Plan for the Siting of Electricity Facilities to 2042, which includes the construction of new units of the Leningrad NPP. According to the plan, the construction of units Leningrad 7&8 with VVER-1200 reactors will significantly increase the generating capacities of the region and replace the closure of older units with RBMK-1000 reactors.


THE VVER-1000 reactor pressure vessel for unit 6 of India’s Kudankulam NPP in Tamil Nadu is being transported to the construction site from the Atommash plant, the Volgodonsk branch of AEM-Technologies (part of Rosatom’s mechanical engineering division Atomenergomash). Kudankulam NPP will comprise six VVER-1000 reactors.


UPGRADES FRANCE’S FRAMATOME AND Canada’s Bruce Power have signed a contract for digital instrumentation and control system upgrades at Bruce Power units 5, 7&8 in Ontario. This follows digital system upgrades at units 1, 2&6, others in progress at units 3&4. These upgrades are part of a major component replacement programme to extend the life of the fleet.


PLANT OPERATION THE US NUCLEAR Regulatory Commission (NRC) has renewed for a second time the operating licence of the Monticello plant in Minnesota for an additional 20 years. Its operating licence will now expire on 8 September 2050.The NRC’s review followed the issue of a safety evaluation report in March 2024, and a final environmental impact statement in November 2024.


DIGITAL & SOFTWARE US-BASED NUCLEAR power and fuel recycling company Oklo has signed a memorandum of understanding with RPower, a provider of onsite prime and backup power solutions, to deploy a phased power model for data centres. It aims to provide a comprehensive, turnkey solution and speed to market for data centres and other large energy users.


POLICY CONSTELLATION HAS BEEN awarded a $840m 10-year contract to supply an estimated 10m MWh of electricity to US federal facilities as part of the first-ever long-term multi-agency purchase of electricity by the US General Services Administration (GSA). The agreement to supply electricity to 80 federal facilities, set to begin April, is part of more than $1bn in combined contracts.


www.neimagazine.com | February 2025 | 7


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