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Audit: Contractor Overcharged Federal Nuke Plant By $6.8m

Posted at 7:06 AM, Nov 24, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-24 08:06:15-05

An audit said a contractor overcharged a federal utility by more than $6.8 million from 2010 to 2015 to help finish construction on a nuclear reactor in Tennessee.

According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press , the Tennessee Valley Authority Office of Inspector General audit claimed Bechtel Power Corp. overcharged for overtime, meal expenses, craft labor costs and an incorrect rate for a veteran construction program at the Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant's Unit 2 reactor.

Bechtel spokesman Fred deSousa said the company disagrees, saying the findings don't reflect union labor project agreements.

TVA spokesman Jim Hopson said the utility is still negotiating with Bechtel over proper payments.

The new reactor at Watts Bar was finished a decade after its first was completed in 1996 at about a $5 billion cost.