Written by
Nick Blenkey
USS Enterprise CVN 65 sits pierside at Newport News Shipbuilding following its decommissioning in February 2017. [U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Cat Campbell]
Two companies have teamed up to compete for a Navy contract to dismantle the former USS Enterprise (now known as the ex-Enterprise), the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
NorthStar Maritime Dismantlement Services, LLC, a subsidiary of NorthStar Group Services, Inc. (NorthStar) and Modern American Recycling and Radiological Services, LLC (MARRS), a subsidiary of Modern American Recycling Services (MARS) aim to dismantle and dispose of decommissioned Navy nuclear aircraft carriers at the Port of Mobile, Ala., starting with the ex-Enterprise. The team plans to perform these operations at the MARS Deepwater facility in Mobile.
NorthStar has extensive experience decommissioning U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)-regulated facilities. MARS’ ship recycling and decommissioning specialists have a demonstrated capability that includes being a lead participant in the 2020-2021 effort to salvage and recycle the car carrier MV Golden Ray following its capsizing and total loss.
The NorthStar/MARS team will initially compete to win the ex-Enterprise project. In an August 2023 Record of Decision, the Navy announced that it would utilize a novel commercial dismantlement approach for the ex-Enterprise, with the NRC providing additional oversight of the successful contractor’s compliance with NRC standards for radiological work.
NorthStar has successfully pioneered nuclear decommissioning approaches under NRC supervision with its ongoing, on-budget, ahead-of-schedule work at the former Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station in Vernon, Vt., and is also currently leading decommissioning work at Duke Energy’s Crystal River 3 nuclear complex, in Citrus County, Fla., and the GE Vallecitos Nuclear Center in Vallecitos, Calif., having previously completed several safe decommissionings of Department of Energy and university research reactors.
“Working with MARS, the most experienced maritime recycler in the U.S., competitively positions NorthStar for the opportunity to dismantle the ex-Enterprise,” said Scott E. State, P.E., CEO of NorthStar. “We look forward to applying our well-honed commercial industry practices to this first-of-a-kind project and look forward to a long relationship with MARS and the Mobile community.”
