The USS Enterprise (CVN-65) is not merely another vessel in the Navy’s centuries-long history—it is a milestone of naval innovation and a Cold War symbol of might. The world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, Enterprise, served the nation for more than 50 years until she was inactivated in 2012 and formally decommissioned in 2017. Now, years since her last mission, she’s at the center of one of the most complicated and unprecedented ship disposal programs in the history of the U.S. armed forces. This is not merely the process of retiring a ship; it’s learning to safely decommission a nuclear-powered behemoth and establish standards for the future.
Whereas other ships can be scrapped, sunk, or converted to floating museums, Enterprise carries with her a special set of challenges. With eight nuclear reactors—more than any other U.S. carrier ever built or built since—she represents a very technical and sensitive challenge for Navy planners. Former submariner and naval analyst Bryan Clark noted the Navy has struggled to figure out how to retire the Enterprise properly in the past. That issue isn’t disappearing anytime soon, either, since the Nimitz-class carriers, all of which are nuclear-powered, will also be retired in the next few decades.
The Navy has had success retiring nuclear-powered cruisers and submarines by draining the reactors and shipping the rest of the compartments to specialized Department of Energy facilities. But carriers like Enterprise are on a whole different magnitude. Their size and the sophistication of their reactor systems make them much harder to dismantle. They need room and resources, too, which the Navy’s public shipyards just can’t possibly spare, particularly with an active fleet to keep up.
To deal with the situation, the Navy considered three disposal options. Two utilized Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Washington, but both would have entailed expensive infrastructure improvements and could occupy the shipyard up to 15 years, at a cost of more than $1.4 billion. The third was to go to the private sector—a less time-consuming, less expensive path that could be done in a mere five years at almost half the cost.
In 2023, following years of study, the Navy opted to use the commercial dismantling alternative. The choice represented a change in the approach of the service regarding the disposal of nuclear-powered ships. The action also relieved valuable shipyard assets, allowing them to work on retaining an aging active fleet. NorthStar Maritime Dismantlement Services received a $537 million contract to start working at the Port of Mobile in Alabama. The project is scheduled to be finished by the end of 2029, and all the radioactive content and other harmful waste will be packaged and shipped to approved disposal facilities to secure public and environmental protection.
Grasping the magnitude and intricacy of the work, the Navy created a focused office—the CVN Inactivation and Disposal Program Office, also referred to as PMS 368. The staff, with Capt. William B. Cleveland and his deputy Brett Engli, sh as the leaders, not only manage the Enterprise project but are also tasked with creating the procedures which will eventually be employed in retiring the Nimitz-class carriers. Rear Adm. Casey Moton, who oversees the Navy’s aircraft carrier programs, characterized the Enterprise dismantling process as a historic move that signals the start of a new era in Navy operations.
While this mission is unprecedented for a ship of this magnitude and capability, it isn’t entirely precedent-free. The Navy has already dismantled the Surface Ship Support Barge, an aging nuclear support platform, in Alabama. That project, done under a $129 million contract with APTIM Federal Services, demonstrated how well industry-government collaborations can function when dealing with hazardous materials. The work was completed without serious safety mishaps, highlighting the value of careful planning and observation.
The Navy is also taking tips from the commercial nuclear industry, where private firms have dismantled commercial nuclear reactors, most of which are bigger and more radiologically complicated than any ship in the fleet. That experience makes military commanders more confident that commercial firms can handle the leadership role in carrier disposal, particularly since the same technology and safety standards are involved.
Of course, despite all the planning and experience, the task has major technical and environmental aspects. Defueling the reactors is only the beginning; the rooms that had contained them still harbor radioactive contamination and have to be dismantled carefully. Each unit of waste, whether it is radioactive or just hazardous, has to be safely handled and shipped under strict regulations. The approach is to make it lessen its greenhouse gas emissions, reduce in number of inactive ships idling around, and eliminate the expense of keeping Enterprise in safe storage but non-operational.
All along, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is offering supervision to make sure that all aspects—from worker safety procedures to environmental safeguards—are in order. There is no margin for mistake when handling nuclear material, and each stage, from demolition to waste elimination, is strictly supervised to make sure public safety and environmental integrity are preserved.
Above all, the demolition of the USS Enterprise is a milestone for the Navy. It’s not only the culmination of a legendary ship’s history—it’s the beginning of a new approach to retiring America’s most powerful warships responsibly. The success or failure of the project will dictate the way the Navy approaches the next generation of carrier retirements, especially the Nimitz-class fleet, set to serve well into the mid-century. As Capt. Cleveland pointed out, the U.S. is the only nation constructing and operating nuclear-powered, large-deck carriers. And now, for the first time, it’s creating a long-term plan for when those vessels reach the end of their lives.
If this commercial dismantling model is successful, it could redefine the future of naval ship disposal. It holds the promise of saving time and money, reducing the load on already stressed public shipyards, and assuring that even the Navy’s most complicated ships can be retired safely, with efficiency, and respect for the environment and the legacy they leave behind.