All Reports

TVA's successful effort to restart Unit 1 at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant (BFN) provides an opportunity to transfer knowledge to future generation projects to (1) improve project oversight, (2) improve project efficiency and effectiveness, (3) generate cost savings opportunities, and/or (4) reduce TVA's risk of fraud, waste, and abuse. OIG reviews of the BFN Unit 1 Restart project and TVA management's evaluations of the restart activities identified opportunities for improvement in future generation projects.

We reviewed control activities and the scale certification process applicable to TVA coal shipments at Calvert City Terminal (CCT). We found the terminal had controls and processes in place for the receiving, blending, weighing, and loading of the coal it handles for TVA. The terminal also appeared to have adhered to the scale certification requirements prescribed by the TVA contract. However, we:Identified one barge shipment where terminal documentation showed the barge being sent to the TVA Colbert Fossil Plant (COF).

We reviewed 42 loans initiated through Economic Development's (ED) four loan programs (Economic Development Loan Fund, Minority Business Development Loan Fund, Business Incubator Loan Fund, and Special Opportunity Counties Loan Fund) and found:Management had not fully implemented procedures governing the loan administrative process after closing, as agreed upon in response to Audit2004-011F.Noncompliance with ED loan guidelines in 13 of 42 loan files reviewed.Uncollectible ED loans were not written off in a timely manner as required by generally accepted accounting principles.Explanati

We conducted a review of 52 TVA non-compete contracts to determine whether non-competed contracts are issued and administered in compliance with TVA policies and procedures, including assessing the justification for the non-competed contract award. We found: Two contracts could not initially be located for review and seven did not have Form17388 and/or the appropriate notification/approval required by TVA policies and procedures. Form17388 is required with the appropriate signatures and justification for the contract.

We determined: TVA's Privacy Summary Report to the OIG needed improvement in three areas.TVA's privacy policies and procedures were generally consistent with federal requirements; however, we noted (1) five areas where we believe further guidance is needed, and (2) TVA is in the process of updating its privacy policies and procedures.While TVA has made progress in implementing privacy program components, a focused effort is needed to strengthen the program by: (1) completing implementation of planned privacy assessments of all systems identified with Information in Identif

We determined:The PRIS backup failure was due to (1)human error and (2)the lack of proper controls which would have detected PRIS was no longer on the master backup schedule which resulted in not having backups performed for PRIS.The PRIS server failure was due to hardware failures and the impact was magnified by human error.The Performance Review & Development data was not adequately secured when regenerated in recovery efforts.TVA management agreed with the findings and has taken or is taking corrective action.

We audited $249million of costs for parts and services for Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant paid by TVA to a contractor from January1, 2000, through May31, 2006. We found the contractor overbilled TVA about $960,000 because the contractor had not always included discounts on prices it billed TVA as required by the contract. TVA management is working with the contractor to determine what impact, if any, a previous verbal agreement regarding the contract discount structure may have on the amount owed to TVA. Summary Only

We audited $58.5million of costs billed to TVA by a contractor for staff augmentation support services during FYs 2005 and 2006. We determined TVA was overbilled about $540,000 for labor costs due to duplicate billings, overpayments of labor hours, and use of incorrect wage rates. We also found the contractor had not maintained documentation to support approximately $340,000 of travel expenses billed to TVA.

We were requested by the Vice President, Paradise Fossil Plant (PAF), to assess the procedures and key controls used to track and account for PAF tools. In summary, we found: No policies or procedures exist for tools at PAF.Tools can be ordered without management approval.Controls at the PAF for contractor tool rooms are inadequate to properly track and account for tools.Management agreed with our findings and recommendations and is taking or plans to take corrective action.

The objective of our review was to determine (1) vendor compliance with contract force majeure provisions and (2) the adequacy of coal contract terms and conditions related to force majeure events.