Former courtroom rivals KHNP and Westinghouse join forces to build eight U.S. nuclear reactors

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and Westinghouse once took their fight over nuclear technology to court. Now, the two companies are preparing to work together on eight nuclear reactors in the United States.

The two sides have tentatively agreed to apply Korea’s APR1400 reactor design to two projects within a program valued at $120 billion, or about 161 trillion won. The agreement effectively reopens a North American nuclear market that had been closed to South Korean companies.

The partnership also exposes unresolved risks. KHNP and Westinghouse must still decide how to share investment costs and project returns, as well as the risks of construction delays and rising building costs. The article warns that the parties should not repeat the experience of Toshiba, which acquired Westinghouse and later faced a management crisis because of losses in the U.S. nuclear business.

The companies have clear reasons to need each other. Westinghouse holds foundational nuclear technology and U.S. licensing capabilities, but lacks the construction capacity and equipment supply chain needed to build large reactors directly. KHNP and South Korean nuclear companies bring design, procurement, construction and operating experience, yet their independent access to the North American market became difficult after a settlement in the dispute last year. The terms governing ownership and decision-making remain central issues in the proposed joint business.