Earlier this month, NorthStar company secured a $418,5 million contract to dismantle the USS Enterprise, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The warship will be towed from Newport News shipyard to Mobile port in Alabama for its final stages.

This contract follows expenditures of $902 million for the USS Enterprise's inactivation process after decommissioning and $111 million for berthing fees. The total amount the US Navy has spent to dismantle this warship to date is approximately $1,4 billion.

The USS Enterprise in a December 12/2025 photo. Photo: *USNI*

The process of removing residual fuel from the reactors, storing it, and safely processing the Enterprise has spanned 14 years since the warship completed its final mission and returned to port.

USNI News, the publication of the US Naval Institute, reported on 28/7 that the cost of dismantling the USS Enterprise indicates the potential expenditure the US Navy may face when the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz is decommissioned in 2027, initiating the process of retiring all warships of its class.

Bryan Clark, an expert at the Hudson Institute based in Washington, stated that extracting fuel from the eight reactors on the USS Enterprise was the biggest obstacle in the entire dismantling project.

"For nuclear submarines, the entire reactor compartment is removed and transported as a unit to a processing facility. This is a difficult operation but has a clear procedure. However, the reactor compartment on the Enterprise is too large, requiring the removal of a hull section", he said.

The USS Enterprise being towed at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, US, in June 6/2013. Photo: *US Navy*

Even though the reactors have had their fuel removed, they still require processing in accordance with regulations at a specialized facility of the US Department of Energy in Hanford, Washington, the storage site for used atomic equipment of the US Navy.

According to procedure, residual low-level radiation in the compartments attached to the hull must also be processed. For the reactors on the USS Enterprise, this operation is expected to continue until 2030.

The USS Enterprise was the sole vessel of its class, built from 1958-1961 and serving in the US Navy from 1961-2012. With a length of 342 meters, the USS Enterprise was the longest naval ship ever constructed. For comparison, the Nimitz-class and Gerald R. Ford-class supercarriers are 333 and 337 meters long, respectively.

The USS Enterprise had a displacement of over 93,000 tons, a maximum speed exceeding 62 km/h, and could carry 90 aircraft. The ship was equipped with three RIM-7 Sea Sparrow anti-aircraft missile launchers with a magazine capacity of 24 rounds, two RIM-116 anti-aircraft systems with 22 rounds, and three Phalanx close-in weapon systems.

Nguyen Tien (According to AFP, AP, USNI News)