"We seem to be acceptable collateral damage, " he said.

BBC: US prosecutes '$6bn money-laundering hub'

In one of the examples cited in the report, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has twice raised the acceptable level of radiation damage reactor vessels can sustain, after several plants violated or came close to violating the original standard.

FORBES: The Biggest Threat to Nuclear Power: 'Pencil Engineering'

The problem, of course, is that the engine always seems to be breaking down and the damage is always worse than acceptable.

WSJ: At J.P. Morgan, Managing the Unmanageable

Does calling them collateral damage really mitigate those losses and make them acceptable?

CNN: Why are we still in 'Vietghanistan?'

After the 1953 disasters, developers of weather radar convinced Congress to support a national network of detectors known as the WSR-57 (for 1957), a very acceptable machine for picking up tornadoes capable of causing significant damage.

FORBES: The Great Tornadoes Of 2011 Put In Perspective

Part of the issue is that the benefit of taking insulin is so big--preventing blindness and organ damage--that even a small long-term cancer risk might be acceptable.

FORBES: Magazine Article