Ship-Submarine recycling program

The Ship/Submarine Recycling Program (SRP) is the process the United States Navy uses to dispose of decommissioned nuclear vessels. SRP takes place only at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS) in Bremerton, Washington, but the preparations can begin elsewhere.

Before SRP can begin, the ship or submarine must have her nuclear fuel removed. Defueling usually coincides with decommissioning. Prior to that event, the vessel referred to as "USS Name," but afterward the "USS" is dropped and it is referred to as "ex-Name." Defueling of submarines is carried out at five ship repair facilities on the West Coast, and the hulks are then towed to PSNS. Reusable equipment is removed at the same time as the fuel.

Spent nuclear fuel is shipped by rail to the Naval Reactor Facility in the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory[?] (INEEL), located 67 kilometers (42 miles) northwest of Idaho Falls, Idaho, where it is stored. The fuel is not reprocessed.

At PSNS the SRP proper begins. A submarine is cut into three or four pieces: the aft section, the reactor compartment, the missile compartment if one exists, and the forward section. Missile compartments are dismantled according to the provisions of the Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty[?]. The ends of the reactor compartment are sealed and shipped by barge and multiple-wheel high-capacity trailers to the Department of Energy's Hanford Nuclear Reservation[?] in Washington state where they are buried. The burial trenches have been evaluated to be secure for at least 600 years before the first pinhole penetration of some lead containment areas of the reactor compartment packages occurs, and several thousand years before leakage becomes possible.

Until 1991, the forward and aft sections of the submarines were rejoined and placed in floating storage. Various proposals for disposal of those hulks were considered, including sinking them at sea, but none were economically practical. All required removal of the numerous polychlorinated biphenyl products (PCBs) on board, which are considered hazardous materials by the Environmental Protection Agency and United States Coast Guard. In order to reduce the costs, the remaining submarine sections are recycled, returning reusable materials to production. In the process of submarine recycling, all hazardous and toxic wastes are identified and removed, reusable equipment is removed and put into inventory. Scrap metals and all other materials are sold to private companies or reused. The overall process is not profitable, but does provide some cost relief. Disposal of submarines by the SRP costs US$25-50 million per submarine.

By the end of 1994, 180 nuclear submarines had been built in the US. Nearly 80 have been decommissioned, and 43 reactor compartments have been cut and are stored at Hanford. The Navy plans to decommission all remaining submarines of the Sturgeon and Benjamin Franklin classes in the first decade of the 21st century, and has already begun to decommission some of the Los Angeles and Ohio boats. Hulks waiting or already processed by the recycling program include:

Cruisers

Ship Name (Hull Number)	Start Date	Completion Date
ex-Long Beach (CGN-9)	1 October 2008	not started
ex-Bainbridge (CGN/DLGN-25)[?]	1 October 1997	30 October 1999
ex-Truxtun (CGN/DLGN-35)	1 October 1997	28 April 1999
ex-California (CGN/DLGN-36)[?]	1 October 1998	ongoing
ex-South Carolina (CGN/DLGN-37)[?]	1 October 2006	not started
ex-Virginia (CGN/DLGN-38)	1 October 1999	ongoing
ex-Texas (CGN/DLGN-39)	1 October 1999	ongoing
ex-Mississippi (CGN/DLGN-40)[?]	1 October 2004	not started

Attack Submarines Note that some of these submarines (the George Washington class) were fleet ballistic missile boats for the vast majority of their careers. However, they were briefly converted to SSNs before decommissioning and arrival at PSNS, and so are listed under that designation here.

Ship Name (Hull Number)	Start Date	Completion Date
ex-Seawolf (SSN-575)	1 October 1996	30 September 1997
ex-Skate (SSN-578)	14 April 1994	6 March 1995
ex-Swordfish (SSN-579)	11 September 1995	unknown
ex-Sargo (SSN-583)[?]	14 April 1994	5 April 1995
ex-Seadragon (SSN-584)[?]	1 October 1994	18 September 1995
ex-Skipjack (SSN-585)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Triton (SSN-586)[?]	1 October 2005	not started
ex-Halibut (SSN-587)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Scamp (SSN-588)[?]	unknown	1990 (the first)
ex-Sculpin (SSN-590)[?]	1 October 2000	ongoing
ex-Shark (SSN-591)[?]	1 October 1995	28 June 1996
ex-Snook (SSN-592)[?]	1 October 1996	30 June 1997
ex-Permit (SSN-594)[?]	30 September 1991	20 May 1993
ex-Plunger (SSN-595)[?]	5 January 1995	8 March 1996
ex-Barb (SSN-596)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Tullibee (SSN-597)[?]	5 January 1995	1 April 1996
ex-George Washington (SSBN/SSN-598)	unknown	unknown
ex-Patrick Henry (SSBN/SSN-599)	1 October 1996	31 August 1997
ex-Robert E. Lee (SSBN/SSN-601)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Pollack (SSN-603)[?]	9 February 1993	17 February 1995
ex-Haddo (SSN-604)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Jack (SSN-605)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Tinosa (SSN-606)[?]	15 July 1991	26 June 1992
ex-Dace (SSN-607)	unknown	unknown
ex-Ethan Allen (SSBN/SSN-608)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Sam Houston (SSBN/SSN-609)[?]	1 March 1991	3 February 1992
ex-Thomas A. Edison (SSBN/SSN-610)[?]	1 October 1996	1 December 1997
ex-John Marshall (SSBN/SSN-611)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Guardfish (SSN-612)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Flasher (SSN-613)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Greenling (SSN-614)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Gato (SSN-615)	unknown	unknown
ex-Haddock (SSN-621)[?]	1 October 2000	ongoing
ex-Sam Rayburn (SSBN/SSN-635)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Sturgeon (SSN-637)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Whale (SSN-638)[?]	20 October 1995	1 July 1996
ex-Tautog (SSN-639)[?]	1 October 2002	not started
ex-Kamehameha (SSBN/SSN-642)[?]	1 October 2001	ongoing
ex-James K. Polk (SSBN/SSN-645)[?]	16 February 1999	15 July 2000
ex-Grayling (SSN-646)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Pogy (SSN-647)[?]	4 January 1999	12 April 2000
ex-Aspro (SSN-648)[?]	1 October 1999	3 November 2000
ex-Sunfish (SSN-649)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Pargo (SSN-650)[?]	1 October 1994	15 October 1996
ex-Queenfish (SSN-651)[?]	1 May 1992	7 April 1993
ex-Puffer (SSN-652)[?]	20 October 1995	12 July 1996
ex-Ray (SSN-653)[?]	15 March 2002	ongoing
ex-Sand Lance (SSN-660)[?]	1 April 1998	30 August 1999
ex-Lapon (SSN-661)[?]	15 March 2003	not started
ex-Gurnard (SSN-662)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Sea Devil (SSN-664)[?]	1 March 1998	later than May 1999
ex-Guitarro (SSN-665)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Hawkbill (SSN-666)[?]	1 October 1999	1 December 2000, sail preserved as memorial at Arco, Idaho
ex-Bergall (SSN-667)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Spadefish (SSN-668)[?]	1 October 1996	24 October 1997
ex-Seahorse (SSN-669)[?]	1 March 1995	30 September 1996
ex-Finback (SSN-670)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Narwhal (SSN-671)[?]	15 March 2004	not started
ex-Pintado (SSN-672)[?]	1 October 1997	27 October 1998
ex-Flying Fish (SSN-673)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Trepang (SSN-674)[?]	4 January 1999	7 April 2000
ex-Bluefish (SSN-675)[?]	15 March 2002	ongoing
ex-Billfish (SSN-676)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Drum (SSN-677)[?]	1 March 2006	not started
ex-Archerfish (SSN-678)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Silversides (SSN-679)[?]	1 October 2000	ongoing
ex-William H. Bates (SSN-680)[?]	1 October 2002	not started
ex-Batfish (SSN-681)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Tunny (SSN-682)[?]	1 October 1997	27 October 1998
ex-Cavalla (SSN-684)[?]	1 October 1999	16 November 2000
ex-Glenard P. Lipscomb (SSN-685)	unknown	unknown
ex-L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686)[?]	29 November 2000	ongoing
ex-Richard B. Russell (SSN-687)[?]	1 October 2001	ongoing
ex-Baton Rouge (SSN-689)[?]	13 January 1995	30 September 1997
ex-Omaha (SSN-692)[?]	1 March 2004	not started
ex-Cincinnati (SSN-693)[?]	1 January 2004	not started
ex-Groton (SSN-694)[?]	1 March 2005	not started
ex-Birmingham (SSN-695)[?]	1 March 2006	not started
ex-New York City (SSN-696)	1 March 2006	not started
ex-Indianapolis (SSN-697)[?]	1 March 2006	not started
ex-Bremerton (SSN-698)[?]	1 June 2004	not started
ex-Phoenix (SSN-702)[?]	1 March 2007	not started
ex-Boston (SSN-703)[?]	1 October 2001	ongoing
ex-Baltimore (SSN-704)[?]	1 March 2007	not started
ex-Atlanta (SSN-712)[?]	1 March 2006	not started

Ballistic Missile Submarines

Ship Name (Hull Number)	Start Date	Completion Date
ex-Theodore Roosevelt (SSBN-600)[?]	unknown	24 March 1995
ex-Abraham Lincoln (SSBN-602)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Lafayette (SSBN-616)[?]	1 March 1991	25 February 1992
ex-Alexander Hamilton (SSBN-617)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Thomas Jefferson (SSBN-618)[?]	1 October 1996	6 March 1998
ex-Andrew Jackson (SSBN-619)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-John Adams (SSBN-620)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-James Monroe (SSBN-622)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Nathan Hale (SSBN-623)[?]	2 October 1991	5 April 1995
ex-Woodrow Wilson (SSBN-624)[?]	26 September 1997	27 October 1998
ex-Henry Clay (SSBN-625)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-James Madison (SSBN-627)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Tecumseh (SSBN-628)[?]	15 February 1993	1 April 1994
ex-Daniel Boone (SSBN-629)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-John C. Calhoun (SSBN-630)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Ulysses S. Grant (SSBN-631)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Von Steuben (SSBN-632)[?]	1 October 2000	ongoing
ex-Casimir Pulaski (SSBN-633)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Stonewall Jackson (SSBN-634)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Nathanael Greene (SSBN-636)[?]	1 September 1998	20 October 2000
ex-Benjamin Franklin (SSBN-640)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641)[?]	1 October 1994	1 December 1995
ex-George Bancroft (SSBN-643)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Lewis and Clark (SSBN-644)[?]	1 October 1995	23 September 1996
ex-George C. Marshall (SSBN-654)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-George Washington Carver (SSBN-656)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Francis Scott Key (SSBN-657)[?]	unknown	unknown
ex-Mariano G. Vallejo (SSBN-658)[?]	1 October 1994	22 December 1995
ex-Will Rogers (SSBN-659)[?]	12 April 1993	12 August 1994

Because the program is underway, this list is almost certainly incomplete. It was last updated 15 May 2002.