Model, Architect's
Object number2010.120.2
Date1970
Mediummetal, plastic, cork, Plexiglas
Credit LineGift of T.A. Mantia
DescriptionModel of an off-shore manufacturing facility (Offshore Power Systems facility); metal frame with Plexiglas surface. Depicts an oval facility on a blue ocean base. The interior harbor has two buildings inside the outer wall as well as four pads (landing pads?).Dimensions3.5 x 32 x 24 in. (8.9 x 81.3 x 61 cm)InscriptionsFront left corner has scale.
Top right corner of surface has masking tape that reads "11# / 24x32 / x3.5".
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
1997
c. 1900
1998
1984