Shades of BP

Radioactive material released into the sea in the Fukushima nuclear power plant crisis is more than triple the amount estimated by plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co, Japanese researchers say.

Japan's biggest utility estimated around 4,720 trillion becquerels of cesium-137 and iodine-131 was released into the Pacific Ocean between March 21 and April 30, but researchers at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) put the amount 15,000 trillion becquerels, or terabecquerels.
~ from Sea Radiation from Fukushima Seen Triple Tepco Estimate by Yuko Takeo ~

Reminiscent of BP's dubious reporting during the Gulf oil spill, another major corporation has been caught underreporting the damage their actions have wrought. This brings to mind yet again why government relies on the guilty to be up front and honest!

In the case of both BP and TEPCO, it is logical that they would try to minimize their culpability. The more damage they admit to, the more it has the potential negatively to impact the bottom line. Why provide the very noose from which you will be hanged?

It's not just corporations that attempt to minimize culpability, it's really a human trait. If you catch little Billy raiding the cookie jar and you announce to him that he will have to forgo watching television on a ratio of one day per cookie devoured, do you think he will confess to eating all 10 of them? He may fess up to eating 4 and then blame the other missing six on sister Sally, brother Tommy or Brutus, the dog!

When calamities of this nature occur, the public needs independent scientific peer-reviewed teams to perform the testing. Relying on the offender to provide accurate information is a guarantee that we won't receive it in a timely manner, if at all!!