South Korea pushes to export nuclear reactors to Europe

Asian nation seeks to become leading player in market dominated by China and Russia

Ft.com Song Jung-a and Christian Davies in Seoul, Raphael Minder in Warsaw, Sarah White in Paris and Alice Hancock in Brussels , 29 Aug 24,

South Korea is accelerating its push to export nuclear reactors to Europe as it seeks to become a leading player in a global market dominated by China and Russia.

After beating Westinghouse of the US and France’s EDF to become preferred bidder on a $17bn project in the Czech Republic in July, state-run utility Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power is set to sign a contract early next year for two reactors in the central European country.

The deal, if completed, will mark Korea’s first major overseas nuclear power project in 15 years, since a consortium led by KHNP parent Kepco won a $20bn contract in 2009 to build and operate four nuclear plants in the United Arab Emirates.

Whang Joo-ho, the president of KHNP, said the company was conducting a feasibility study for a nuclear power plant in the Netherlands and was in talks to build reactors in Finland and Sweden as it aims to export 10 more reactors globally by 2030.

Kepco has also held early-stage discussions with British officials about building a new station on the island of Anglesey off the coast of Wales. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………

There could be bumps along the way for the South Koreans, however. KHNP faces claims from Westinghouse that they used its proprietary technology for their APR1400 reactors. A US district court last year dismissed Westinghouse’s lawsuit that argued that the Korean companies violated US export regulations requiring US government approval for technology sharing. However, the dispute remains unresolved as the court did not rule on the issue of intellectual property infringement.

The Czech deal has highlighted South Korea’s efforts at a time when projects run by western competitors including EDF remain mired in construction delays and cost overruns.

Although Ahn, the South Korean industry minister, said earlier this month that the two companies were “in last-stage talks” to settle the disputes, the US company this week filed an appeal with the Czech anti-monopoly office in protest at the selection of KHNP as the preferred bidder.

“KHNP neither owns the underlying technology nor has the right to sub-licence it to a third party without Westinghouse consent,” the US company said……………………………………………………………

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Suh Kyun-ryul, a nuclear expert and a former professor at Seoul National University, said KHNP would probably have to reach a financial settlement with Westinghouse. “This could even end up as a lossmaking deal,” he said. Suh also noted that South Korea was constrained by a long-standing agreement with the US that was signed in the 1950s to restrict Seoul’s ability to develop a nuclear weapons programme.

Under the agreement, South Korea’s access to raw material supplies is limited and it is not allowed to conduct uranium enrichment or the reprocessing of used fuel. Long-term buyers were likely to ask for a one-stop service ranging from nuclear fuel supply to waste disposal, he said, adding the US agreement remained “South Korea’s Achilles heel”. https://www.ft.com/content/85a7e313-6089-4ba9-8f5b-f45adcbc5074