The Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) three nuclear plants, Browns Ferry, Sequoyah, and Watts Bar, are capable of generating an average of 8,275 megawatts of electricity, making TVA the third-largest nuclear fleet in the United States. In fiscal year 2025, TVA generated 56,157 million kilowatt hours of nuclear power, accounting for 33 percent of TVA’s total fleet power generation. To maintain the nuclear fleet, TVA is making significant investment. For fiscal year 2025, the TVA Board of Directors approved $257 million to support reliable operation of the seven units across TVA’s three nuclear plants.
Due to potential risks to cost and schedule from rework, we performed an evaluation of contractor rework for nuclear projects at TVA. The objectives were to evaluate TVA’s oversight of contractor rework and determine if rework was being handled in accordance with contract terms and conditions. Our scope included active nuclear projects in the implementation phase.
We reviewed nine contracts associated with our sample of projects and identified rework was required for one. We could not determine if all rework identified was handled in accordance with contract terms and conditions due to a lack of formal documentation and tracking of rework. In addition, we identified a lack of guidance for oversight of rework. Specifically, TVA and Nuclear’s project management Standard Programs and Processes do not define rework or provide any information on how rework should be documented and tracked, which contributed to the inability to determine if all rework was handled in accordance with contract terms and conditions.
