There have been so many conflicting reports about the Japanese plant, I find it difficult to trust much of what has been reported. Some of this I believe is simply due to unknown facts. And so much that needs to be evaluated is has too high of radiation levels for workers to even get cameras in.
Reports of radiation levels have been all over the place- even from organizations that have a lot of expertise.
There isn't much room for error with nuclear power- consequently I don't put much weight in the accident records. It is just not like other kinds of mishaps. We have no control over events like earthquakes or tsunamis and at what magnitude they can hit. And we do not have the spent fuel storage/disposal figured out.
Frankly, I don't think a thing has been blown out of proportion- higher levels of particular kinds of radiation have entered the Japanese food chain and water.
Yes, ask questions and do research. I don't doubt the great minds that bring these kinds of advances to us at all- I do not trust government regulatory agencies and plant management to do what the scientists and engineers tell them in order to run these plants in a safe manner- they will not do so because of costs. Look at what was going on in the Gulf with regulation agencies! And not only does this suck due to the spill, but that is an area that has a large work force in the oil drilling industry along with fishing. Nuclear plants also provide many jobs.
Right now, due to cost, huge energy companies in the US won't touch nuclear power.