TVA's Plan for Removal of Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Equipment

The objective of this review was to determine whether TVA was meeting all requirements and planned actions for the removal of equipment containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). We found there were currently no requirements for the removal of PCB equipment, and previous planned actions for PCB equipment removal were not always completed. We believe continued use of PCB-containing equipment poses significant risk to TVA, as (1) TVA maintains one of the largest inventories of PCB equipment in the electric utility industry; (2) the condition of some PCB equipment at TVA increases the risk of an incident; and (3) TVA does not have an accurate inventory of its PCB-contaminated equipment.We recommended the Chief Operating Officer (1) expedite removal of PCB equipment by (a) providing dedicated funding and (b) developing a standard methodology for assessing risk of PCB contaminated equipment to prioritize its removal; and (2) provide dedicated funding to expedite efforts to determine PCB-contaminated equipment inventory to prioritize and allocate funding, accordingly, for the removal of this equipment. Until the PCB-contaminated equipment inventory is completed, TVA should treat all fires involving electrical equipment as if it contained PCBs until determined otherwise.