Offshore Power Systems
Encyclopedia
Offshore Power Systems was a 1970 joint venture between Westinghouse Electric Company
, which constructed nuclear generating plants, and Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock, which had recently merged with Tenneco
, to create floating nuclear power plant
s at Jacksonville, Florida
.
was actually the first floating nuclear power station, built by Martin Marietta
for the US Army in the early 1960s. The reactor was installed in a converted liberty ship
hull and used by the Army from 1968 to 1975 in the Panama Canal Zone
. It produced relatively low power output of 10 megawatts compared to the projected 2,300 megawatt capacity of the OPS plants.
The much larger concept was envisioned in 1969 by Richard Eckert, the engineer at Public Service Electric and Gas Company
(PSE&G) tasked with identifying power plant sites. He discovered that there were very few suitable locations, but most were close to the Atlantic Ocean
. Westinghouse began the project in 1970 based on two premises: all nuclear power plants were custom built and designed, and local residents close to the proposed location of a nuclear facility typically took a NIMBY
attitude. Therefore, identical reactors mass-produced from a "factory" location could be built quicker and at less expense, and if the power plant was located miles from populated areas (in the ocean), there would be less opposition.
The idea was promoted by PSE&G as the Atlantic Nuclear Power Plant
. PSE&G ordered two 1,150 megawatt reactors for the project in 1972, and two more the following year for operation in the mid-1980s. OPS decided to locate their production facility at the Port of Jacksonville
.
composed of 18,000 dolosses
, each weighing 80 tons, designed to withstand hurricanes, tornadoes, moderate earthquakes and collision by a loaded tanker. The actual power plant would be towed, like a barge, by ocean tugboats
to its destination.
was very vocal and actively protested whenever a public forum was available. Ralph Nader
became involved with the protests for a short time.
Contracts were signed by OPS and PSE&G for two plants. PSE&G paid for the engineering and blueprints, license expenses and startup costs for the manufacturing facility.
Westinghouse named Zeke Zechella
to be president of OPS in 1972.
Much of Blount Island
was swampy land until the early 1970s when OPS obtained 850+ acres (3.4 km2) from the Jacksonville Port Authority
(JPA) for $2,000/acre. OPS had the muck removed and replaced it with clean fill, then installed utilities, roads, a bridge and other infrastructure. The floating platform upon which the plant was to be built would be 400' square, the size of three football fields laid sideline to sideline. The harbor basin they created had to be slightly wider, longer, and 40' deep. The world's largest bridge crane
, capable of lifting the dome of the reactor containment building
was purchased for $17 million and installed across the basin. The crane had a height of 130 feet, a span of 675 feet and a lift capacity of 2 million pounds. During construction, over 1,000 workers were involved, and a total of $125 million was invested in the property and facility. Two other utilities, the Southern Company
in Atlanta and JEA
in Jacksonville, both sent letters of commitment to show that they were serious about purchasing a plant, however; no plants were ever built.
. Less oil available resulted in higher oil prices, which encouraged conservation and less demand for electricity. PSE&G did not need the additional capacity from the nuclear generators they had ordered, so PSE&G requested a two-year delay. After the embargo ended, oil prices remained high and effects of the 1973–75 recession
made economic conditions worse. When President Jimmy Carter
placed a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction, OPS began laying off employees. New Jersey Governor Brendan Byrne
was opposed to the floating plants, and chided the NRC for not spending more time investigating the possible consequences of a nuclear accident, no matter how unlikely the event. PSE&G cancelled their OPS power plant contracts in 1978, and OPS had no customers, but they still sought Nuclear Regulatory Commission
approval in the hope of building plants in the future. Then came the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, which required additional safety features in the design. Zeke Zechella left OPS and retired as a Westinghouse Vice President in 1980 after 27 years at the company.
In late 1981, OPS still employed 231 people and hoped for approval that year. The city of Jacksonville sued OPS and the Port Authority in an attempt to reclaim the property, assessed at nearly $38 million, but lost.
Westinghouse finally received NRC approval to build as many as eight plants, but no utilities were interested.
On February 17, 1984 Westinghouse announced that their OPS company would shut down by September 1, 1984. Lack of market and technology duplication were cited as reasons for the closure. The company had been paying $1 million per year in property taxes, and sold the Blount Island property to Gate Petroleum
for $17 million in 1985.
Westinghouse Electric Company
Westinghouse Electric Company LLC is a nuclear power company, offering a wide range of nuclear products and services to utilities throughout the world, including nuclear fuel, service and maintenance, instrumentation and control and advanced nuclear plant designs...
, which constructed nuclear generating plants, and Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock, which had recently merged with Tenneco
Tenneco
Tenneco is a $6.2 billion Fortune 500 company that has been publicly traded on the NYSE since November 5, 1999 under the symbol TEN...
, to create floating nuclear power plant
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
s at Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
.
History
The MH-1AMH-1A
thumb|right|300pxMH-1A was a pressurized water reactor and the first floating nuclear power station. One of a series of reactors in the US Army Nuclear Power Program, its designation stood for mobile, high power.-History:...
was actually the first floating nuclear power station, built by Martin Marietta
Martin Marietta
Martin Marietta Corporation was an American company founded in 1961 through the merger of The Martin Company and American-Marietta Corporation. The combined company became a leader in chemicals, aerospace, and electronics. In 1995, it merged with Lockheed Corporation to form Lockheed Martin. The...
for the US Army in the early 1960s. The reactor was installed in a converted liberty ship
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
hull and used by the Army from 1968 to 1975 in the Panama Canal Zone
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...
. It produced relatively low power output of 10 megawatts compared to the projected 2,300 megawatt capacity of the OPS plants.
The much larger concept was envisioned in 1969 by Richard Eckert, the engineer at Public Service Electric and Gas Company
Public Service Electric and Gas Company
Public Service Enterprise Group , commonly known as PSEG, and originally known as the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey and then as the Public Service Electric and Gas Company, is a regulated, publicly owned gas and electric utility company in the state of New Jersey, United States. It is...
(PSE&G) tasked with identifying power plant sites. He discovered that there were very few suitable locations, but most were close to the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. Westinghouse began the project in 1970 based on two premises: all nuclear power plants were custom built and designed, and local residents close to the proposed location of a nuclear facility typically took a NIMBY
NIMBY
NIMBY or Nimby is an acronym for the phrase "not in my back yard". The term is used pejoratively to describe opposition by residents to a proposal for a new development close to them. Opposing residents themselves are sometimes called Nimbies...
attitude. Therefore, identical reactors mass-produced from a "factory" location could be built quicker and at less expense, and if the power plant was located miles from populated areas (in the ocean), there would be less opposition.
The idea was promoted by PSE&G as the Atlantic Nuclear Power Plant
Atlantic Nuclear Power Plant
The Atlantic Nuclear Power Plant was a proposed floating nuclear power plant located off the coast of New Jersey. It was proposed in the 1970s by the Public Service Electric and Gas Company. Two Westinghouse 1,150 megawatt reactors were ordered in 1972, and another two Westinghouse 1,150 MW...
. PSE&G ordered two 1,150 megawatt reactors for the project in 1972, and two more the following year for operation in the mid-1980s. OPS decided to locate their production facility at the Port of Jacksonville
Port of Jacksonville
The Port of Jacksonville is an international trade seaport on the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. The newest port in the United States, it carries over 21 million tons of cargo each year and has an annual impact of over $19 billion, including 65,000 jobs...
.
Concept
The power plants would be built with two reactors on a man-made island constructed of steel, anchored in the Atlantic a few miles off the coastline. The islands would be protected by a massive concrete breakwaterBreakwater (structure)
Breakwaters are structures constructed on coasts as part of coastal defence or to protect an anchorage from the effects of weather and longshore drift.-Purposes of breakwaters:...
composed of 18,000 dolosses
Dolos
A dolos is a concrete block in a complex geometric shape weighing up to 20 tons, used in great numbers to protect harbour walls from the erosive force of ocean waves...
, each weighing 80 tons, designed to withstand hurricanes, tornadoes, moderate earthquakes and collision by a loaded tanker. The actual power plant would be towed, like a barge, by ocean tugboats
Tugboat
A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...
to its destination.
Opposition
Opposition to the project was both local and national because many people questioned the safety of nuclear power. Jacksonville resident Joe CuryJoe Cury
Joseph H. Cury was the owner of the Mandarin Super Market and a resident of Mandarin, Florida. He gave generously to the poor and the disadvantaged of Mandarin, and was widely known as the founder of POWER, an advocacy group on utility rates, and as an opponent of the Dames Point Bridge and...
was very vocal and actively protested whenever a public forum was available. Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....
became involved with the protests for a short time.
Construction
Construction of the new facility was projected to cost $200 million and create 10,000 new jobs when completed in 1976.Contracts were signed by OPS and PSE&G for two plants. PSE&G paid for the engineering and blueprints, license expenses and startup costs for the manufacturing facility.
Westinghouse named Zeke Zechella
Zeke Zechella
Alexander Philip "Zeke" Zechella was a United States Navy veteran and pioneer in the usage of nuclear energy who headed several major companies before retiring in Jacksonville, Florida and assisting local non-profit agencies....
to be president of OPS in 1972.
Much of Blount Island
Blount Island
Blount Island is an island of approximately on the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida, nine nautical miles west of the Atlantic Ocean. One of three public cargo facilities at the Port of Jacksonville is located there, and it is also the site of the United States Marine Corps Blount Island...
was swampy land until the early 1970s when OPS obtained 850+ acres (3.4 km2) from the Jacksonville Port Authority
Jacksonville Port Authority
The Jacksonville Port Authority also known by its brand name, JAXPORT, is the independent government agency in Jacksonville, Florida that owns and operates much of the seaport system at the Port of Jacksonville.-History:...
(JPA) for $2,000/acre. OPS had the muck removed and replaced it with clean fill, then installed utilities, roads, a bridge and other infrastructure. The floating platform upon which the plant was to be built would be 400' square, the size of three football fields laid sideline to sideline. The harbor basin they created had to be slightly wider, longer, and 40' deep. The world's largest bridge crane
Overhead crane
An overhead crane, commonly called a bridge crane, is a type of crane found in industrial environments. An overhead crane consists of parallel runways with a traveling bridge spanning the gap...
, capable of lifting the dome of the reactor containment building
Containment building
A containment building, in its most common usage, is a steel or reinforced concrete structure enclosing a nuclear reactor. It is designed, in any emergency, to contain the escape of radiation to a maximum pressure in the range of 60 to 200 psi...
was purchased for $17 million and installed across the basin. The crane had a height of 130 feet, a span of 675 feet and a lift capacity of 2 million pounds. During construction, over 1,000 workers were involved, and a total of $125 million was invested in the property and facility. Two other utilities, the Southern Company
Southern Company
Southern Company is a public utility holding company of primarily electric utilities in the southern United States. It is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia with executive offices also located in Birmingham, Alabama. The company is currently the 16th largest utility company in the world and the...
in Atlanta and JEA
JEA
JEA , located in Jacksonville, Florida, is the eighth largest community-owned electric utility company in the United States and largest in Florida. As of 2009, JEA serves more than 417,000 electric customers, 305,000 water customers and 230,000 sewer customers. Besides Jacksonville , JEA also has...
in Jacksonville, both sent letters of commitment to show that they were serious about purchasing a plant, however; no plants were ever built.
Cancellation
Although OPS did not have Federal approval to build the plants in the 1970s, the biggest reason why OPS was not successful was the 1973 oil crisis1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
. Less oil available resulted in higher oil prices, which encouraged conservation and less demand for electricity. PSE&G did not need the additional capacity from the nuclear generators they had ordered, so PSE&G requested a two-year delay. After the embargo ended, oil prices remained high and effects of the 1973–75 recession
1973–75 recession
The 1973–75 recession in the United States or 1970s recession was a period of economic stagnation in much of the Western world during the 1970s, putting an end to the general post-World War II economic boom. It differed from many previous recessions as being a stagflation, where high unemployment...
made economic conditions worse. When President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
placed a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction, OPS began laying off employees. New Jersey Governor Brendan Byrne
Brendan Byrne
Brendan Thomas Byrne is an American Democratic Party politician from New Jersey, who served as the 47th Governor of New Jersey, from 1974 to 1982.-Early life and education:...
was opposed to the floating plants, and chided the NRC for not spending more time investigating the possible consequences of a nuclear accident, no matter how unlikely the event. PSE&G cancelled their OPS power plant contracts in 1978, and OPS had no customers, but they still sought Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975...
approval in the hope of building plants in the future. Then came the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, which required additional safety features in the design. Zeke Zechella left OPS and retired as a Westinghouse Vice President in 1980 after 27 years at the company.
In late 1981, OPS still employed 231 people and hoped for approval that year. The city of Jacksonville sued OPS and the Port Authority in an attempt to reclaim the property, assessed at nearly $38 million, but lost.
Westinghouse finally received NRC approval to build as many as eight plants, but no utilities were interested.
On February 17, 1984 Westinghouse announced that their OPS company would shut down by September 1, 1984. Lack of market and technology duplication were cited as reasons for the closure. The company had been paying $1 million per year in property taxes, and sold the Blount Island property to Gate Petroleum
Gate Petroleum
Gate Petroleum is a privately held diversified corporation headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, the 11th largest in Florida in 2010. In FY 2008, the company ranked #338 on the Forbes list of America's Largest Private Companies...
for $17 million in 1985.
Reactor data
| Reactor unit | Reactor type | Net capacity |
Gross capacity |
Construction started (Planned) |
Electricity Grid |
Commercial Operation |
Shutdown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Floating-1 | Pressurized water reactor | 1.150 MW | 1.211 MW | Cancelled Plan on 01.01.1979 | |||