Controversy over unfair contract

[Anchor]

There is a controversy over the 'humiliating contract' regarding the Czech Dukovany nuclear power plant project, which the government touted as a great achievement.

It has been revealed that Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power signed an excessively unfavorable contract with the American nuclear company Westinghouse.

Reporter Lee Do-yoon has the details.

[Report]

In July of last year, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power was selected as the preferred negotiator for the Czech nuclear power plant.

The competitor, American Westinghouse, filed a lawsuit claiming that Korea Hydro had misappropriated its core technology, and six months later, the two companies reached a settlement.

The details of the settlement, which were not disclosed at the time, are now coming to light.

It is reported that for each nuclear power plant exported, Korea Hydro must pay Westinghouse at least 1 trillion won for the purchase of goods and services and technology usage fees, and that they agreed to verify whether Westinghouse's technology was applied when independently developing and exporting the next-generation small modular reactors (SMR).

Moreover, it is a long-term contract lasting 50 years.

There is growing controversy over the 'humiliating contract', suggesting that they accepted excessively unfavorable conditions just to secure the nuclear power plant project.

[Kim Won-yi/Member of the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, and Energy Committee/Democratic Party: "There are concerns that the terms are excessively unfavorable."]

Korea Hydro stated that it is difficult to confirm the facts due to a confidentiality agreement, but argued that it was not a humiliating contract.

[Hwang Joo-ho/President of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power: "From the perspective of acceptance, we cannot think it is justifiable. However, we believe that the level is such that we can endure it and still make a profit."]

As it has been confirmed that Korea Hydro has decided to withdraw from the promising export market in Poland, suspicions have arisen that they may have granted Westinghouse priority access to Europe and North America.

[Jung Jin-wook/Member of the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, and Energy Committee/Democratic Party: "Are you going to withdraw from the Polish nuclear power project? Are you going to withdraw from the Polish nuclear power project?"]

[Hwang Joo-ho/President of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power: "We are currently in a state of withdrawal."]

Some in the industry evaluate this as an unavoidable choice due to the necessity of cooperation with the United States.

[Lee Jeong-ik/Professor of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering at KAIST: "Cooperation with the United States is essential for matters related to nuclear fuel supply..."]

The presidential office has instructed a thorough investigation into the overall contract.

This is KBS News, Lee Do-yoon.