Decommission

How it is used

Used for coal plants, nuclear reactors, wind turbines and oil platforms. Plants are decommissioned at the end of their life. The noun is decommissioning: decommissioning costs, a decommissioning plan. Decommissioning a nuclear plant can take decades.

Example sentences

1. The utility will decommission two coal units next year.

2. The budget includes decommissioning the old wind turbines and recycling the blades.

Common collocations

• decommission a plant
• decommissioning costs
• decommissioning plan
• nuclear decommissioning

Related terms

• commissioningThe stage at the end of construction when a new plant or system is tested, checked against its specifications and handed over for normal operation.
• power plantAn industrial facility that produces electricity on a large scale, for example by burning gas or coal, splitting atoms or using the energy of water, wind or sunlight.
• phase outTo stop using something gradually over a planned period, for example coal power, fossil fuel subsidies or inefficient light bulbs.
• nuclear wasteRadioactive material left over from nuclear power and other nuclear activities, especially spent fuel from reactors, which must be kept safely isolated for very long periods.
• coal-firedDescribing a power plant or boiler that burns coal to produce heat and electricity. Coal-fired plants are among the largest sources of carbon emissions.

More terms: Power Generation and Power Plants

• generation
• installed capacity
• natural gas
• capacity factor
• baseload
• gas turbine
• steam turbine
• combined cycle
• combined heat and power
• dispatchable
• ramp up