Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and Korea ElectricPower Corporation (KEPCO) announced on 16 March that they have reached anagreement with Westinghouse to settle their intellectual property dispute,officially concluding the legal conflict.

Through this agreement, KHNP and Westinghouse have resolvedtheir dispute and agreed to strengthen cooperation in the global nuclear powermarket. KHNP President Hwang Joo-ho stated, “This agreement serves as a crucialopportunity to establish an even closer cooperative relationship between KHNPand Westinghouse.”

By forging a new strategic partnership with Westinghouse,KHNP and KEPCO aim to reinforce Korea-U.S. cooperation and enhance theircompetitiveness in the global nuclear power market.

As a result, the final contract for the Czech Dukovany Units5 and 6 nuclear power project, valued at approximately KRW 24 trillion,scheduled for signing in March, is expected to proceed smoothly.

Additionally, the resolution of this two-year-longintellectual property dispute is anticipated to enable KHNP and KEPCO to expandtheir bidding activities in Europe and the Middle East, targeting nuclear powerprojects worth hundreds of trillions of won.

KEPCO President Kim Dong-cheol commented:

"This agreement restores nearly 50 years of traditionalcooperation between both parties. By resolving the legal uncertainties stemmingfrom past disputes, KEPCO can now engage more actively in overseas nuclearpower project bids."

KEPCO plans to leverage its renewed cooperation withWestinghouse to further strengthen its competitiveness in the global nuclearpower market.

‍Korea-U.S. Agreement on Nuclear Exports and CooperationPrinciples

‍Prior to this agreement, on 8 March, the Ministry of Trade,Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) signedan interagency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Department ofEnergy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of State.

Signatories included:

South Korea: Ho-hyun Lee (Director-General for Energy Policy, MOTIE), Ki-hwan Kwon (MOFA’s Coordinator for Global MultilateralDiplomacy)

United States: Andrew Light (Assistant Secretary forInternational Affairs, DOE), Eliot Kang (Assistant Secretary for InternationalSecurity and Nonproliferation, U.S. Department of State)

The MOU signing took place in the presence of MOTIE MinisterAhn Duk-geun and U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, finalising thepreliminary agreement signed in November 2024.

This MOU reaffirms the principles of bilateral nuclear powercooperation, promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy and establishing aninformation-sharing framework for the transfer of civilian nuclear technologyto third countries. The agreement also aims to enhance nuclear export controlcooperation between South Korea and the United States.

The signing of this MOU is expected to further strengthenthe global comprehensive strategic alliance between South Korea and the U.S.,fostering mutual cooperation in the global nuclear energy market based on deeptrust between both nations.