US Navy Signs $418M Deal To Scrap History-Making Nuclear Aircraft Carrier

Some U.S. Navy ships have crossed over into popular awareness, such as USS Constitution and USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000). Another highly respected vessel the world knows by name is the USS Enterprise (CVN-65), which was the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Carrying the name "Enterprise" is a Navy tradition, as the USS Enterprise in question was the second aircraft carrier and eighth U.S. Navy vessel christened with the name. 

CVN-65 entered active service when it was commissioned in 1961. In the decades that followed, the USS Enterprise participated in the Vietnam War, Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and numerous smaller U.S. military engagements worldwide. The USS Enterprise was deactivated in December 2012 and was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on February 3, 2017. The latter took place at the Newport News shipyard, where the 95,000-ton behemoth has been ever since, awaiting its dismantling.

The honor of that undertaking was officially granted to NorthStar Maritime Dismantlement Services LLC on July 15, 2026, with the contract worth $418.5 million. The long process of scrapping and recycling the USS Enterprise is expected to end in September 2030. NorthStar has a significant task to complete, as taking apart one of the U.S. Navy's largest vessels is a highly complex process that requires proper handling, disposal, and recycling of hazardous materials, which explains the hefty price tag American taxpayers are paying for the Enterprise's disposal.

Taking apart the USS Enterprise is a long process that began with defueling. This process, which can sometimes take as long as 30 months, took place before NorthStar landed the contract. But while the ship's nuclear fuel has been removed, the empty reactors remain on board; NorthStar, then, still has the arduous task of disposing of all radioactive residue.

Handling radioactive materials poses serious risks, which is one of the reasons that it took the Navy so long to determine how best to dispose of the USS Enterprise. Nearly a decade passed between the ship's decommissioning and the award of the contract, which is largely due to the task's complexity. NorthStar's primary task is to cut the ship into sections so it can tackle each area and remove every element of the vessel, disposing of and recycling materials as necessary. This includes the piping, wiring, plating, and everything else in between. 

While the Navy has converted some of its vessels into museum ships, the prospect of doing so for the Enterprise was likely too challenging, largely due to its reactors. While it's true that the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus (SSN-671), functions in this capacity, it's an outlier. That said, CVN-65 will live on, in a sense, with around 35,000 pounds of its steel expected to be reused for its successor, USS Enterprise (CVN-80).