All Reports

This reporting period was marked by TVA leading the nation in the resurgence of nuclear power.

We initiated an inspection to determine whether the objectives of TVA Nuclear Medical Services (TVAN Medical) program were being met and assess compliance with applicable regulations. Our review included only the services being performed by TVAN Medical. In summary, we found no stated objectives, policies, or procedures relating specifically to TVAN Medical. In addition, varying services are being performed at the TVAN Medical site offices, and supervision of nurse practitioners may not be adequately ensured.

At the request of the Vice President, Paradise Fossil Plant (PAF), we conducted limited review to determine if ordered goods were received and properly recorded in PassPort at PAF. Our review included receipts at PAF from September 7, 2007, through September12, 2007. In summary, our review of selected receipts at PAF found the goods ordered for PAF were generally received, as ordered, and properly recorded in PassPort.

We performed a review to verify all production servers, databases, and the mainframe were being backed up. Our review found (1)all but 20 production distributed servers, (2)all production databases, and (3)the mainframe were being backed up at the time of our testing. Information Services provided explanations and/or actions taken for the 20 servers not being backed up. We also determined 13 backup policies (rules within the software used to backup servers) were obsolete or inactive and 9 servers did not have their exclude lists documented.

We audited $3.8million of costs billed to TVA by a contractor for providing reclearing and maintenance for transmission line right-of-way areas. In summary, we found the contractor could not provide support for an estimated $33,521 in labor costs. The contractor agreed with our finding and explained that on several occasions employees had been paid in cash. TVA management plans to recover the unsupported costs.

As part of our annual audit plan, we audited $11.3million in costs billed to TVA by a contractor, to design and install hydrated lime injection systems at various TVA fossil plants. Our audit objective was to determine if the costs the contractor billed to TVA were in compliance with the provisions of the contract. In summary, we determined the contractor billed TVA an estimated $310,818 for costs that were unsupported or not in accordance with the contract provisions.

Our review of TVA's compliance with FISMA of 2002 determined that among improvements made during fiscal year 2007, TVA completed revisions to align the security program with NIST FIPS 199 standards and implemented measures to ensure personnel complete security training. While TVA continues to make progress in implementing information technology controls required by FISMA, we noted additional controls are needed to improve (1)oversight and evaluation of contractor systems, (2)the Privacy Program, and (3)consideration of e-authentication risks at TVA.

We conducted a review to assess the procedures in place at TVA to ensure that new hires meet physical job requirements. In summary, we found TVA has a policy in place that requires all new hires to have a medical screening before starting work. However, the TVA Medical Examiners Guide and Health and Safety Practice 1, Occupational Health, do not specify (1)who is responsible for providing examiners with job descriptions to be used in their examination and (2)that examiners are required to utilize the job description information in conducting their physical job requirement evaluation.

We conducted a review of TVA and contractor employment procedures to determine if TVA policies and procedures ensure the hiring of non-citizens complies with legal requirements. In summary, it appears that TVA has appropriate policies and procedures in place to ensure that (1)its hiring process is in compliance with applicable legal requirements and (2)contractors are responsible for ensuring that principals/employees under contract to TVA meet Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) requirements.

We performed an inspection to assess the reasonableness of travel reimbursements where employees were (1)in travel status for an extended period of time and/or (2)received significant reimbursements. The scope of the inspection included all reimbursements made to employees during FYs 1999-2006. We found many TVA employees who received significant travel reimbursements and traveled to the same location for extended periods in multiple years.