The state-run nuclear power company's plan to export a nuclear power plant to the Czech Republic has tripped over the red tape of the U.S. government.

According to a document submitted by Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power(KHNP) to a U.S. federal court in Washington on Tuesday, the company submitted information regarding its bid for the Czech Republic's nuclear reactor project to the U.S. Department of Energy on December 23 last year.

The submission is in line with a U.S. federal regulation that imposes an obligation to obtain permission or report to the Department of Energy when certain nuclear power technology subject to export controls is transferred to a foreign country.

The department, however, sent a reply to KHNP on January 19 and refused to accept the report, saying that it should be submitted by "a U.S. entity," implying that KHNP should cooperate with U.S. nuclear energy firm Westinghouse Electric Company.

Westinghouse, which has filed a suit against KHNP, maintains that the South Korean company must obtain its approval as well as that of the U.S. Department of Energy to export reactors that were developed using key Westinghouse technologies.

KHNP says it received help from Westinghouse at the initial stage of nuclear reactor development, but the model it is currently trying to export has been developed using its own technology.