Thermal releases: Review of international regulatory practices and options for incorporation into a compliance and licensing framework.

Canada is seeking offers from qualified Offerors to provide professional services to review if and how thermal risk assessments (TRAs) are being conducted across the electrical power generation industry domestically and internationally, and if there are any existing regulatory frameworks addressing management of thermal effluent. The work will identify gaps in the standardized application of TRA methods and provide recommendations where applicable for improvement in standardization of TRAs for the nuclear power plants in Canada. The scope includes a critical evaluation of thermal effects literature for reliability and relevance for being able to inform a TRA, and the generation of an updated database of thermal effects thresholds for Canadian relevant species fish, and invertebrate species in the marine and freshwater environment. The scope of this project also includes reviewing and compiling data on regulatory approaches used by different facilities utilizing once-through cooling system technology (e.g., nuclear power plants, oil and gas plants, etc.), nationally and internationally, with respect to thermal risk assessment and the derivation and application of thermal thresholds.