GAO report: $1 billion to dismantle Navy’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier

By CLAUDIA GRISALES | STARS AND STRIPES

WASHINGTON — It could cost more than $1 billion to dismantle the Navy's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the former USS Enterprise, according to the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm for Congress that routinely reviews U.S. agencies and programs.

The GAO estimate was unveiled as the Navy is assessing its options to dismantle and dispose of the carrier, which has been inactive since 2012 and was decommissioned in 2017 after more than 50 years of service.

The carrier's “dismantlement and disposal will set precedents for processes and oversight that may inform future aircraft carrier dismantlement decisions,” the GAO report said in a 56-page report released Thursday.

The GAO wrote it found the Navy's typical budget and reporting on the effort doesn't give enough information to support oversight for a project of this size and cost. A Senate report accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2018 included a provision for the GAO to review the Navy's plans for the former carrier.

Full article: https://www.stripes.com/gao-report-1-billion-to-dismantle-navy-s-first-nuclear-powered-aircraft-carrier-1.540771