Date Issued
Report Number
2016-15391
Report Type
Inspection / Evaluation
Description
Preventive maintenance (PM) consists of servicing and data collection activities carried out at predetermined intervals and is intended to reduce the likelihood of equipment failures. Due to the importance of PM to the reliable operation of TVA's generating assets and as a result of findings identified related to nuclear and coal PM in previous evaluations, we initiated an evaluation of TVA's gas plant PM to determine if PM had been performed in accordance with established schedules and, if not, what effect the deviations had. We determined PM regulated by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) was performed in accordance with TVA's established schedules. However, we were unable to determine if non-NERC PM had been performed in accordance with established schedules due to unreliable dates and a lack of documentation in Maximo - the work management system used by TVA to manage PM. We also determined that inadequate PM contributed to 11 equipment failures; 9 of these failures resulted in forced outages. Through interviews with plant personnel, we identified potential areas for improvement including: (1) predictive maintenance, (2) implementation support for new PM programs, (3) Maximo training and access, and (4) transition of coordinator responsibilities.
Joint Report
Yes
Participating OIG
Tennessee Valley Authority OIG
Agency Wide
Yes (agency-wide)
Questioned Costs
$0
Funds for Better Use
$0