Navy Finally Seeking To Dispose Of USS Long Beach, The World’s First Nuclear-Pow

[Marlin]

Navy Finally Seeking To Dispose Of USS Long Beach, The World's First Nuclear-Powered Cruiser

https://www.twz.com/sea/navy-finally-seeking-to-dispose-of-uss-long-beach-the-worlds-first-nuclear-powered-cruiser

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The U.S. Navy has issued a request for information to identify commercial contractors capable of dismantling and disposing of the ex-USS Long Beach. The vessel, which served as the world's first nuclear-powered cruiser, has been moored at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard since its 1995 decommissioning and subsequent partial structural removal.

This project represents only the second time the Navy has utilized a commercial yard for the disposal of a nuclear-powered warship. The process requires specialized handling of defueled reactor plants and adherence to strict regulatory standards for radiological materials. The outcome of this effort will inform future decommissioning strategies as the Navy prepares to retire its aging fleet of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

Tearing apart a nuclear-powered warship is a whole lot more costly and time-consuming than a conventionally powered one.

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More than three decades after decommissioning the USS Long Beach, the Navy is finally preparing to dispose of what's left of the world's first nuclear-powered surface combatant. The cruiser – which already had its distinctive boxy superstructure as well as its bow and stern sections removed – has been moored at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility since being decommissioned in 1995.

Read the full article at TWZ:
https://www.twz.com/sea/navy-finally-seeking-to-dispose-of-uss-long-beach-the-worlds-first-nuclear-powered-cruiser