Industry minister Takeo Hiranuma apologized Tuesday for the government's failure to quickly announce the results of its probe into Tokyo Electric Power Co., which is suspected of falsifying damage reports on its nuclear power plants.
"Taking two years (for the government investigation) is too long in light of common sense. It should have been done more swiftly," Hiranuma said in a news conference.
"This resulted in a situation for which we must apologize to the nation."