US company says KHNP does not own underlying technology for its APR reactor units
US-based Westinghouse Electric Company has filed an appeal with the Czech anti-monopoly office to protest the decision by state power company ČEZ to choose Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) as the preferred bidder for the construction of two new nuclear reactors at the Dukovany nuclear power station.
The Czech government announced in July that KHNP had won the lucrative public tender – said to be worth about $18bn (€16bn) – to build at least two nuclear reactors with the first unit scheduled to be online by 2036.
KHNP beat France’s state power company EDF in the tender, which was launched in 2022. The Prague government said in January that a bid by Westinghouse did not meet its conditions.
Russia’s Rosatom and China’s China General Nuclear were excluded from the tender on security grounds.
Westinghouse said in a statement on 26 August that the tender required vendors to certify they possess the right to transfer and sublicense the nuclear technology offered in their bids to CEZ and local suppliers.
“KHNP’s APR-1000 and APR-1400 plant designs utilize Westinghouse-licensed Generation II System 80 technology,” Westinghouse said.
“KHNP neither owns the underlying technology nor has the right to sublicense it to a third party without Westinghouse consent.
“Further, only Westinghouse has the legal right to obtain the required approval from the US government to export its technology.”
Westinghouse filed a lawsuit in a US court in October 2022, alleging that KHNP infringed on its technology and claiming that KHNP must obtain US government approval to export the reactors.
The court dismissed the suit in September 2023, but did not rule on the issue of intellectual property infringement.
Dispute ‘Crosses Multiple Jurisdictions’
David Durham, president of energy systems at Westinghouse, said at the time that Westinghouse’s dispute with Kepco/KHNP crosses multiple jurisdictions and covers two issues: compliance with US nuclear technology export control requirements and Kepco/KHNP’s longstanding obligations to comply with Westinghouse’s intellectual property rights that they agreed to contractually.
“The use of Westinghouse intellectual property outside of Korea is the principal dispute between the parties. The decision by the US District Court merely holds that export control enforcement resides with the US government.”
Westinghouse said it intended to appeal the decision.
Westinghouse said it will continue to vigorously defend its intellectual property rights and compliance with US export control laws via international arbitration and US litigation.
The Korea Herald reported that South Korea is looking for a solution to end the dispute.
“The government is discussing with the US government through various channels to support the amicable resolution of the corporate dispute,” the newspaper quoted an official of the presidential office as saying.
“We will maintain close coordination with our US counterparts on the foundation of the ironclad Korea-US alliance, so that the dispute does not harm Seoul's nuclear exports.”
The Czech Republic has six commercially operational reactor units: four Russia-designed VVER-440 units at Dukovany and two larger VVER-1000 units at Temelín.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, in 2022 the six units provided 36.7% of the country’s electricity production.
