In 1972, a JV between Westinghouse and Newport News was formed called Offshore Power Systems. They aimed to mass-manufacture large floating PWR nuclear plants in a gigafactory. They:
✅ Excavated a canal on Blount Island, Jacksonville, Fl
✅ Installed the world's largest gantry crane
✅ Submitted a full EIS for sites up and down the Atlantic coast
✅ Got an actual license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to manufacture the first 8 reactors(!)
Each one could pull 5000 lbs of trash out of the ocean per day from moving screens over the inlets.
Sadly, by the time they got the license, power demand had flattened, and their customers backed out. The crane was sold to China. The canal is still there.
More here: https://whatisnuclear.com/offshore-nuclear-plants.html
In the 1970s, Westinghouse and Newport News formed a joint venture called Offshore Power Systems to mass produce floating nuclear power plants. Vast environmental and design studies were done, the facility was constructed, and 8 full-scale gigawatt-class PWRs were authorized for production.
Nick Touran