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Nuclear Fatigue Rule - Sequoyah Nuclear Plant

Report Information

Date Issued
Report Number
2026-17609
Report Type
Inspection / Evaluation
Description
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, worker fatigue increases the risk for illness and injuries and has been a contributing factor in several industrial disasters.  The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Nuclear Fatigue Rule (NFR) procedure establishes requirements for managing fatigue and controlling work hours in accordance with Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 26, Subpart I, Managing Fatigue.  The regulation has (1) a maximum average work hour requirement for covered individuals which limits worker hours to an average of 54 hours per week while the unit is online and (2) a minimum days off requirement while the unit is in an outage. Due to the importance of employees being able to safely and competently perform their duties, we performed an evaluation of the NFR at Sequoyah Nuclear Plant.  Our objective was to determine if the Tennessee Valley Authority was in compliance with the NFR at Sequoyah Nuclear Plant.  Our review of sampled employee and contract employee work hours and badging records forApril 1, 2025, through September 30, 2025, identified no violations of NFR work-hour limits.  However, we identified opportunities for improvement related to (1) NFR work-hour tracking, and (2) fatigue assessment documentation.
Joint Report
No
Agency Wide
Yes (agency-wide)
Questioned Costs
$0
Funds for Better Use
$0

Recommendations

We recommend the Vice President, Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, reinforce the expectation for hours worked to be entered in the work-hour system.

We recommend the Vice President, Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, reinforce the expectation for hours not worked to be removed from the work-hour system.

We recommend the Vice President, Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, reinforce the expectation for fatigue assessments to include all required information for trending purposes.