Wow, a TWELVE year refit? The U.S. Refueling and Overhaul process takes one to two years for submarines and up to almost three years for an aircraft carrier.
In 1991 they went through massive upheaval and the equivalent of our Great Depression. And at that time we were pretending that we wanted a friendly relationship. That probably explains the 12 year thing. Lack of money, lack of urgency.
With the new Ford class they don’t need refueling. The current Nimitz class needs one refueling in their lifetimes.