Why has South Korea, which has focused on exporting nuclear power plants, given up on plans to win new orders from Slovenia?

According to South Korean media, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), a South Korean nuclear power plant operator, has recently given up on plans to win a contract for a new nuclear power plant project in Slovenia, Europe.
Kwon has reversed the nuclear power phase-out policy pursued by the previous Moon Jae-in administration and has promoted the expansion of the nuclear power industry. Last year, Yoon announced the goal of "exporting 10 nuclear power plants by 2030."
However, according to South Korean media, GEN Energia, the orderer for the new Krško nuclear power plant in Slovenia, announced that KHNP would not participate in the project.
The Slovenian nuclear plant was a project that KHNP had been focusing on winning, so the reason for its decision to pull out is a matter of interest.
According to the report, KHNP said it made the decision after taking into consideration the business environment, without providing any detailed explanation.
Following the incident, concerns about the safety of nuclear power plants grew in South Korea, and in June 2017, then-President Moon declared that "we will thoroughly reexamine our nuclear power policy and abolish our nuclear-centered power generation policy."
Nuclear power was the main source of electricity, accounting for 30% of the country's electricity generation, but Moon said, "Abolishing nuclear power is an inescapable trend of the times." After Moon's declaration of abolishing nuclear power, the nuclear power industry faced a crisis and there was a shortage of people with excellent technical skills.
In addition, nuclear power plant design and construction companies have closed one after another, and the number of students in nuclear power-related departments at universities has also dropped sharply.
However, at the end of his administration's term, Moon said at the "Global Energy Supply Network Review Meeting" held at the Blue House in March 2022 that he would
"It is important to secure the world's leading nuclear technology," he said, showing a completely different view from his previous anti-nuclear stance. At the time, he was criticized for suddenly changing his view.
The administration changed and Yoon, who took office in May 2022, reversed the previous administration's "anti-nuclear" policy. He plans to increase the current 26 nuclear power plants nationwide to 30 by 2038, and to make nuclear power the largest share of electricity generated.
Yoon has also been actively promoting "nuclear sales diplomacy." In September last year, he made an official visit to the Czech Republic and held a press conference at the Pavlovsk-Hungarian Forum in Moscow.
Yoon and President Pavel discussed strengthening cooperation between the two countries, including winning nuclear power plant orders. In July last year, KHNP was awarded the right of first refusal to negotiate for the construction of two new reactors at the Dukovany nuclear power plant, which is being promoted by the Czech Republic.
At the time, he emphasized that "as a nuclear power plant jointly built by Korea and the Czech Republic, it will be a mutually beneficial project that will contribute to the economic growth of both countries."
At the same time, he also tried to revive the nuclear power industry, which had been in a slump under the previous administration. Meanwhile, in relation to a nuclear power plant construction project in the Czech Republic, Korea Hydro has filed suit against Wen, a major U.S. nuclear power plant manufacturer, for allegedly violating intellectual property rights.
Stinghouse fought back, but the two companies reached an agreement last month to end the dispute. The terms of the settlement are confidential, by agreement between the parties.
While strengthening its sales pitch for nuclear power, Korea Hydro has given up on its plan to build a new nuclear power plant in Slovenia.
Got it. According to the Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo, the new nuclear power project in Slovenia, titled the "JEK2 Project," is a maximum 2.4 million kilowatts project near the currently operating Krsko Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1.
The plan is to build one or two additional large nuclear power plants, and the cost of the project is estimated to be up to 20 trillion won (about 2.819 trillion yen).
Gen Energia, a nuclear power plant operator in the Czech Republic, has selected France's EDF and the aforementioned Westinghouse as the final bidders.
"We are currently in a situation where we need to concentrate on our own business, and have determined that the new nuclear power plant project in Slovenia does not meet our requirements, so we have decided not to participate in the bidding competition," the company said.
Meanwhile, the JoongAng Ilbo reported that the reason for KHNP's abandonment was due to the fact that KHNP reached an agreement with Westinghouse last month to end an intellectual property rights dispute.
The details of the agreement between the two companies have not been made public, but the paper said, "After South Korea completes the contract for the Czech nuclear plant, Westinghouse will take the lead in receiving orders in Europe, while South Korea will focus on the Middle East and East Asia.
"The view is that they have agreed to focus on receiving orders from South Asia and other regions," the report said. However, KHNP has denied this, emphasizing that it is not giving up on its expansion into Europe altogether.