Westinghouse Electric Company, the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Company (KHNP) have reached a global settlement agreement to resolve their longstanding intellectual property dispute.
The settlement clears the path for the companies to collaborate on the deployment of new nuclear reactors worldwide.
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It gives Westinghouse and the Korean entities the certainty needed to move forward in the global nuclear power sector.
Westinghouse Electric Company president and CEO Patrick Fragman stated: “Westinghouse is pleased to reach an agreement with KEPCO and KHNP on this important issue. As the world demands more firm baseload power, we look forward to opportunities for cooperation to deploy nuclear power at even greater scale”.
All current legal actions between Westinghouse Electric Company and the Korean companies will be dismissed. The actions began in 2022.
Westinghouse initiated legal action in the United States to block Kepco and Korea Hydro from distributing nuclear technology over which the Pennsylvania-based firm claimed ownership rights without permission.
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By GlobalDataWhen Korea Hydro was selected as favoured vendor for a pair of reactors in the Czech Republic in 2021, Westinghouse warned of potential legal disputes.
The new agreement dispels any doubts regarding legal issues and paves the way for Seoul to advance and globally market its own technological innovations.
The specifics of the settlement are confidential.
US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm stated: “Today’s agreement between Westinghouse and the Republic of Korea companies KEPCO and KHNP marks an exceptional accomplishment which could pave the way for hundreds of billions of dollars in cooperative projects moving forward while creating and maintaining hundreds of thousands of jobs in the civil nuclear sector.
“I am grateful for the dedication, determination and perseverance of the leadership of all of these companies as well as that of their owners. The US and the Republic of Korea’s cooperation on civil nuclear energy can offer a highly competitive alternative in the global marketplace while upholding the highest nonproliferation standards.
“This commercial agreement, along with our signing last week of a government-to-government memorandum of understanding on principles concerning nuclear exports and cooperation, will promote civil nuclear energy cooperation as an exceptionally strong and enduring component of US/Republic of Korea relations.”
In December 2024, Westinghouse Electric Company and Aecon signed two collaborative agreements to develop and deploy advanced nuclear new-build projects in Canada and worldwide.
