This particular official (or his office, honestly) doesn't have much to gain from downplaying the possibility of a meltdown This is the same Japan, you'll reme

This particular official (or his office, honestly) doesn't have much to gain from downplaying the possibility of a meltdown This is the same Japan, you'll remember, that actually doctored video footage to downplay a previous accident at a nuclear reactor -- see Monju[1] -- with the direct involvement of the government. Or when they had to take the extraordinary step of forcing the shutdown of 17 reactors because a major (the major?) utility falsified safety records [2]. A cursory googling of japan nuclear safety would have immediately informed you that officials often downplay and conceal information. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monju_Nuclear_Power_Plant http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monju_Nuclear_Power_Plant [2] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3548192.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3548192.stm