How to manage the implosion of nuclear power

Published August 4, 2017 5:56pm ET



In 1972, Public Service Electric & Gas Company placed an order for two floating nuclear power plants to be located a few miles off the coast of Atlantic City. The plan called for construction of the 1.3-gigawatt plants in Jacksonville, with the reactors to be mounted on barges and towed up to New Jersey. The plants would have generated enough electricity to supply two million homes, sending the power back via underwater cables.

However, after revised electricity forecasts projected reduced growth in power demand, PSE&G cancelled its order for the offshore reactors. Westinghouse then shut down its Jacksonville factory and eventually dropped plans to build floating nuclear plants.

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