Former Minnesota nuclear power plant employee outed as diploma-buying fraudster In 2005, a federal grand jury in Washington state indicted eight people on charges of running a diploma mill and issuing thousands of fake degrees from colleges and universities both real and make-believe. All eight were eventually convicted, and last month the ringleader of the operation was sentenced to three years in prison. Which left one big question unanswered: Who were their customers? Included among the nearly 10,000 fake diploma buyers are members of the National Security Agency, the CIA, and even NASA. Perhaps the most interesting name on the list, however, is that of Duwayne Huss. In the article, Huss is described as: an employee of Nuclear Management Co., operator of two nuclear plants in Minnesota, [who] bought degrees in nuclear engineering and accounting. "I can't give you information about our employees," company spokeswoman Mary [Sandok] said Monday when asked if Huss was still employed. Nuclear Management Co. is contracted by Xcel Energy to run its two nuclear power plants, Monticello and Prairie Island. This morning, Xcel spokesman Tom Hoen told City Pages that Huss hasn't worked for Nuclear Management Co. for more than three years--since right around the time the feds were sinking their teeth into the diploma mill. Hoen wouldn't say what Huss's job was at Nuclear Management Co., nor would he say whether Huss quit or was fired. All of which strikes us as pretty dumb. If he was a pencil pusher who was fired when his fraud was uncovered, then good. If he was in charge of making sure the place didn't melt down and left of his own volition, well, that's embarrassing and scary and, if true, will in all likelihood come to light in due time. But there's more: After parting ways with Nuclear Management Co., Huss secured employment at the Kewaunee Power Station in eastern Wisconsin. A call to the nuclear plant confirms that Huss is currently employed in its control room, although the receptionist declined to say in what capacity. The nuclear power plant is owned by Dominion, which describes itself as "one of the nation's largest producers of energy."
Full article at - http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2008/07/minnesta_power.php Â