Idaho to Get USS Enterprise Spent Nuclear Fuel

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) — A Navy spokesman says spent nuclear fuel from the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise that is being decommissioned Dec. 1 will be sent to eastern Idaho for study and storage. Tom Dougan of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program tells the Post Register the spent fuel from the ship's eight reactors will arrive at the Naval Reactors Facility at the Idaho National Laboratory in 2015. The world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier ended its remarkable career at sea Nov. 4 when it pulled into its home port at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia for the final time after participating in every major conflict since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Dougan says the spent nuclear fuel once in Idaho will be examined to help with future reactor design research.