US Navy Nuclear Aircraft Carrier USS Enterprise Has 8 Reactors and Will Cost at Least $1,430,000,000 to Retire. USS Nimitz Has 2 Nuclear Reactors and Will Cost at Least $1,000,000,000 to Retire

No single 1958 reactor could drive the longest warship ever built, so the designers installed eight — and no shipbreaker had ever faced eight. The full story of the $451 million construction, the estimate blowout, the twice-awarded contract, and the committed $1.