Who can we trust?

With the recent events in Japan it got me thinking. Who can we trust when it comes to dealing with big issues? Nuclear power is it safe or not? Up until recently I was pretty much all for it, my only real issue was what to do with the waste. We were told that modern power stations are extremely thought and full of redundant systems built in. It would seem that this is not the case. Yes it was a pretty brutal disaster but isn't that the point of building up these stations to such high standards? It's one of those issues that people tend to be simply for or against. The for group tends to be represented by scientific types. Experts in the field tell us not to worry. The group opposing tends to be environmental types using scare tactics. who do you believe? I tend to be on the science side, but science isn't always right. Well its not so much science as scientists. Science is the pursuit of knowledge an understanding. It will be wrong on occasion it's the arrogance of some scientists that gets frustrating. It's not just the nuclear debate lots of issues are presented as for or against yet many have a pretty gray area. Some advice also seems to change every other year. Aside from doing all the research yourself how can anyone make heads or tails of any information?
Anyway I know this was a little out there for a post I know what I want to say but it's not that easy to put into words.