I don't really understand the concept. The plant itself is floating, but it is surrounded by a riprap breakwater. Why not just cut out the middleman and put the

I don't really understand the concept. The plant itself is floating, but it is surrounded by a riprap breakwater. Why not just cut out the middleman and put the plant on a constructed island, which would avoid the colossal maritime issues with the project? If the proposal was for an actual seaworthy ship design, I would understand the value in that: You could simply drive the whole thing back to the specialized factory port for maintenance, you could respond to disasters or changing economics, etc. As is, it seems like a solution looking for a problem. I just don't see how moving the nuclear plant 3 miles off shore actually solves anything. EDIT: Actually, I see that the plants would be removable. I didn't realize that the straight section of the seawall could be removed to get the plants out of the breakwater. Still, I can't shake the feeling that the idea of compartmentalized, serial produced reactors that are transported by barge is a great idea -- so long as they don't live on a barge too.