All Reports

I am pleased to present to you our semiannual report for the six-month period beginning April 1, 2006, and ending September 30, 2006. The efforts of the men and women of the TVA OIG resulted in almost$14 million in recoveries, fines/penalties, potential savings, questioned costs, or funds which could be put to better use during this reporting period. Our staff continues to provide wide coverage of the many programs and operations of a very diverse and complex organization.

TVAN's CRP was designed to help ensure all TVA and contractor employees supporting TVAN "are free to express safety issues, concerns, or differing views to TVAN management without fear of reprisal and all such concerns and issues are investigated and resolved in a timely manner." We performed an inspection which assessed the willingness of TVA employees and contractors to report nuclear safety and quality issues through various avenues, including TVA's CRP.

TVAN CRP was designed to help ensure all TVA and contractor employees supporting TVAN "are free to express safety issues, concerns, or differing views to TVAN management without fear of reprisal and all such concerns and issues are investigated and resolved in a timely manner." We performed an inspection which assessed the willingness of TVA employees and contractors to report nuclear safety and quality issues through various avenues, including TVAN's CRP.

We conducted a review to determine what TVA has done to address challenges arising from TVA's aging workforce, retirements, and the resulting knowledge loss. Challenges facing power utilities as a result of the aging workforce include the loss of critical knowledge, the inability to find replacements with utility-specific skills, and the lack of bench strength within the organization. We determined TVA has adopted an Integrated Staffing Plan Principle, as well as several initiatives to support this principle which address the challenges arising from TVA's aging workforce.

We reviewed the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) guidance/requirements regarding a potential influenza pandemic to determine if TVA is in compliance with OPM requirements and/or has taken other proactive solutions. We found that OPM has issued some guidance for Federal agencies to follow in the event of a pandemic; however none are mandatory for agencies to implement. TVA is currently reviewing OPM guidance and has taken other proactive actions by adopting and adapting the Nuclear Energy Institute guidelines.

We audited the costs invoiced by a contractor for retroactive rate adjustments and determined the adjustments were overstated by about $12,000 due to miscellaneous billing errors. The contractor agreed with our findings. Summary Only

We reviewed TVA's contracting process and noted several areas where improvements could result in better contract management and greater contractor compliance with commercial terms and conditions. Although we noted many instances of good practices being performed by various individuals in Procurement and TVA's Strategic Business Units, these practices were not universal.

We audited $3.2 million of costs billed to TVA by a contractor for welding services performed at Browns Ferry and Sequoyah Nuclear Plants by one of its subcontractors and determined TVA had been billed $450,165 for unsupported and ineligible costs. The overbilling included (1) per diem payments that exceeded limitations or were ineligible under the contract, (2) ineligible mobilization/demobilization and travel expenses, (3) unsupported small tools and consumable costs, (4) labor costs that were either unsupported or billed at incorrect rates, and (5) unsupported subcontractor costs.

We audited $32.7 million of costs billed to TVA by a contractor providing reload fuel fabrication services for Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant and determined TVA had been overbilled $5,545 due to the contractor's use of overstated hours and incorrect labor rates. Additionally, the contract did not have a formal authorization process for certain services to be performed by the contractor and the contractor could not provide documentation of TVA's authorization for some of the services it had billed TVA. The contractor agreed to credit TVA for the overbilled amount.

We determined a TVA contractor providing nuclear security services was incurring a high level of overtime due to work schedules and headcount limitations. The headcount limitations had resulted in TVA paying $1.84 million in extra labor costs during 2004 and 2005. We estimated if the trend continued TVA would pay an extra $3.5 million over the planned three-year remaining term of the contract. TVA management stated they had reviewed the contractor's staffing levels and determined additional full-time positions were needed to man the security posts.