In 1986, the Soviet propaganda minister Alexei Yakovlev maintained - for as long as it was tenable - that the situation at the exploded Chernobyl nuclear reactor in Pripyat was “under control” and that expert scientific teams were monitoring the problem. Since the Fukushima nuclear meltdowns began in March 2011, the Japanese government has maintained that health concerns from radiation are minimal and that everything is “under control”, an indefensible position from the beginning. While there are undeniable differences between late capitalist Japan and the Soviet Union, the techniques to conceal the public health risks of radiation are disturbingly familiar.