US Navy Awards $418M Contract To Dismantle World’s First Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier USS Enterprise

The U.S. Navy has awarded a $418.5 million contract to NorthStar Maritime Dismantlement Services to dismantle and recycle USS Enterprise (CVN-65), the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, after years of planning and legal challenges.

The retired carrier will be dismantled in Mobile, Alabama, where recyclable materials will be recovered and hazardous waste, including low-level radioactive material, will be safely packaged and transported to licensed disposal facilities.

The Navy expects the work to be completed by September 2030.

The project is the first commercial dismantling of a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and is expected to guide the Navy as more nuclear-powered carriers, including the Nimitz-class fleet, reach retirement.

NorthStar won the contract after the Navy reopened the bidding process following a legal challenge by HII ShipCycle. The company argued that a technical problem with the federal procurement system prevented it from submitting its final proposal before the deadline.

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims agreed the Navy should review the competition, after which NorthStar was selected again.

The new contract is worth $418,497,668, about $118 million less than the earlier $536.7 million contract awarded to NorthStar in 2025. It is also well below a previous Government Accountability Office estimate that dismantling and disposing of USS Enterprise could cost the Navy more than $1 billion.

The Navy awarded the project as a firm-fixed-price contract, meaning NorthStar will be responsible for any cost overruns. About $415.5 million from the Navy’s fiscal 2025 operations and maintenance budget was committed when the contract was signed.

Commissioned in 1961, USS Enterprise was the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Unlike later U.S. nuclear-powered carriers, it was powered by eight nuclear reactors, allowing it to operate for long periods without refuelling.

During more than 50 years of service, Enterprise took part in the Cuban Missile Crisis, flew missions during the Vietnam War, and later supported military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In 1964, the carrier also participated in Operation Sea Orbit, sailing around the world with two other nuclear-powered warships without refuelling. The mission demonstrated the long-range capability of nuclear-powered naval vessels.

Enterprise was retired from active service in 2012 and officially decommissioned in February 2017. At the time, it was the third-oldest commissioned vessel on the U.S. Navy rolls, behind USS Constitution and USS Pueblo, which was captured by North Korea in 1968 and remains on the Navy’s registry.

Its nuclear fuel was removed in 2017, after which the ship remained at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia while the Navy worked through the technical and regulatory challenges of dismantling a one-of-a-kind vessel.

Over the years, naval enthusiasts proposed turning Enterprise into a museum. However, the idea was considered too expensive because the ship would first have to be partially dismantled to remove its eight nuclear reactors.

Under the new contract, the carrier will be dismantled piece by piece. Steel that is safe for reuse will be recycled through commercial channels, while radioactive and other hazardous materials will be sent to authorised disposal facilities.

About 35,000 tons of recycled steel from Enterprise may reportedly be used in the construction of USS Enterprise (CVN-80), the future Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier that will carry the historic name.

Once the ship arrives in Mobile, the city will become the site of one of the most complex aircraft carrier disposal projects undertaken by the U.S. Navy.

The work, scheduled to continue until September 2030, is expected to provide valuable experience for dismantling future nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

References: interestingengineering, nbc15 News