Offshore Power Systems Manufacturing Facility, Blount Island, Jacksonville, Florida
Object number2010.120.1
Date1970
OriginJacksonville, FL
MediumMetal, wood, plastic
Credit LineGift of T.A. Mantia
DescriptionOffshore Power Systems (OPS) model. Model of a never-constructed manufacturing facility; metal frame with metal label plates; model depicts facility located on a peninsula with a small harbor, railways, roads, and buildings.Dimensions3 x 40 x 25.0619 in. (7.6 x 101.6 x 63.7 cm)InscriptionsText in bottom left corner "PLANNED / Offshore Power Systems / Manufacturing Facility / Blount Island / Jacksonville, Florida"; this plate also has the legend and scale.
Key to buildings and areas in bottom right corner.
On back:
"2/2 G.O."
Historical NotesWestinghouse Offshore Power Systems (OPS) “Floating Nuclear Power Plants” model. These power plants were conceived during a feasibility study conducted for Public Systems of New Jersey which asked Westinghouse to determine if a nuclear power plant could be constructed on a floating platform and moored offshore such that power could be pumped into populated areas. Westinghouse partnered with Newport News Shipbuilding to develop the conceptual designs in offices located in a shopping center in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. The venture was moved to Jacksonville, Florida, where 75 families from both companies subsequently moved. Eight of these plants were ordered but due to the business climate of the 1970s and the disasters at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, orders were terminated and the OPS went out of business in 1984.
Related institution
Westinghouse Electric Company
(founded 1945)
Related institution
Newport News Shipbuilding
On View
Not on view
1956
1961
1963
