US Navy Awards Contract to Dismantle World’s First Nuclear Aircraft Carrier USS Enterprise

The US Navy has awarded a $418 million contract for the dismantling of the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise (CVN-65).

This was reported by Defence Blog.

The contractor was NorthStar Maritime Dismantlement Services, based in Vernon, Vermont. The final cost of the work turned out to be approximately $118 million less than previously estimated.

Commissioned into the fleet in 1961, the USS Enterprise became a unique ship: it is the only aircraft carrier in history to be equipped with eight nuclear reactors.

This technical solution endowed the carrier with exceptional capabilities but also significantly complicated its eventual decommissioning.

Over the course of more than five decades of service, the aircraft carrier played a role in key events in US naval history.

It was on combat duty during the Cuban Missile Crisis, carried out combat missions in Vietnam, supported the evacuation during the fall of Saigon, and, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, was repeatedly deployed in operations as part of the Global War on Terrorism.

The Enterprise was officially decommissioned in 2012. By 2017, all nuclear fuel had been completely removed from the ship. However, it remained at the Newport News Shipbuilding yard in Virginia for many years afterward, while the Navy sought the safest and most cost-effective method for its disposal.

Some experts and enthusiasts advocated for preserving the legendary aircraft carrier as a museum exhibit. In 2021, the American Nuclear Society even granted it the status of a “Nuclear Historic Landmark.”

However, the US Navy rejected this idea, concluding that because the eight reactors were so deeply integrated into the hull’s structure, it would be impossible to safely dismount them while keeping the ship suitable for display in a museum.

Once work begins in Mobile, all materials from the aircraft carrier will undergo thorough sorting.

Ordinary steel and other safe structural components will be sent for recycling, while hazardous materials — including low-level radioactive waste remaining after the dismounting of the reactor plants — will be specially packaged and transported to licensed storage facilities and enterprises designated for handling such materials.

It is expected that approximately 35,000 metric tons of steel recovered from the dismantling of the USS Enterprise will be reused. Some of this metal is planned to be used in the construction of its successor — the Ford-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-80).

The US Navy emphasizes that the dismantling of the USS Enterprise will serve as a pilot project of sorts, allowing the Navy to refine the technologies and procedures needed for the future decommissioning of all Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.