Defueling is a straightforward and relatively simple process. It’s the dismantling of each of the eight reactor plants that poses serious challenges.
When a submarine is scrapped, the entire reactor plant portion of the hull is cut from the boat intact in one piece....welded shut on the ends, then sent to a lined pit at a facility in Washington State where it will ultimately be buried. The entire defueled reactor plant goes in-tact....vessel, pumps, valves, steam generators, everything.
The Enterprise is the first nuclear carrier, and the first to be scrapped. They are going into uncharted territory, with the pitfalls of having parts of the ship that have never been accessed or inspected since new construction. Each individual reactor plant (eight in all), will have to be cut out and sealed. Don’t know if there were provisions for this when the ship was built....but they may be having to engineer the process from scratch.
Then consider the logistics....the reactor plants are buried deep within the ship. I would assume it would be easier to cut up the portion of the ship above each plant before removal, but I’m not privy to the current plans. Either way, these things are very complex and require a great deal of planning and engineering, which is very expensive in and of itself.
I’m guessing the current projected cost is on the low side, and will probably rise significantly. But...much of the cost will be the learning curve, and later on down the line as more carriers are scrapped, the process will improve and cost less.
Thanks for the info, I didn’t consider the radioactivity of the entire reactor system. I was just thinking about the fuel rods, and perhaps the containment chamber. Nor did I know there are eight (!) reactors on board.
Its a shame they can’t just re-fuel and go out again. But I guess there are a lot of worn-out parts throughout the ship after almost 60 years.