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US nuclear company has filed a lawsuit against KHNP and KEPCO.
The US government has requested a ban on the export of South Korean nuclear power plants, claiming that intellectual property rights have been infringed.
This is reporter Jae Hee-won.
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U.S. nuclear power plant company Westinghouse filed a lawsuit against Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and Korea Electric Power in the US District Court in Washington DC on the 21st local time.
The company's technology was applied to the technology used in the next-generation Korean nuclear power plant developed by KHNP.
According to the US federal regulations, KHNP requires Westinghouse and the US Department of Energy's permits to export nuclear power plants to other countries.
He also asked for a ban to prevent KHNP from providing related technical information to Poland, Saudi Arabia and the Czech Republic, which are promoting the export of nuclear power plants.
Westinghouse also raised the issue of intellectual property rights when KHNP exported four nuclear power plants to the United Arab Emirates in 2009, and KHNP provided technical consulting materials at that time.
The industry believes that Westinghouse is trying to contain KHNP through a lawsuit in a bid for a new nuclear power plant project in Poland.
Depending on the outcome of the lawsuit, there is a possibility that the Yoon Seok-yeol government's goal of exporting 10 nuclear power plants by 2030, including the Polish nuclear power plant project, may be disrupted.
Following the Inflation Reduction Act, which excludes Korean electric vehicles from tax credit, there are also concerns that nuclear power exports could become a source of conflict between Korea and the United States.
At their summit in May, President Yoon and US President Joe Biden agreed to strengthen cooperation in nuclear power, including entering the nuclear power plant market in third countries.