Navy May Dismantle Former Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier Enterprise at Commercial Yard - USNI...

The Navy is looking to contract with a commercial dismantlement facility to dispose of the service’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier due to a heavy workload at the service’s yard Puget Sound.

Former USS Enterprise (CVN-65) was deactivated in 2012 and decommissioned in 2017. It is currently stored at HII Newport News Shipbuilding. According to a National Environmental Act Policy draft report, any shipyard would not start dismantlement until 2025.

The Navy listed several options for the dismantlement of the aircraft carrier but recommended one that allowed for a commercial yard to perform the work, according to the draft plan, first reported by The Kitsap Sun. That option would cost $554 million to $696 million and take five years, compared to the other two alternatives that would last 15 years and cost $1.102 billion to $1.358 billion, according to the draft report.

The sea service also considered a no action alternative, which would see the Navy store Enterprise long-term.