Japan's global nuclear catastrophe hasn't gone away; it's just not good news.

This nuclear catastrophe has pretty much disappeared from the airwaves in the US.  We see this repeatedly, we saw it with Katrina and the BP disaster in the gulf.  Once the initial even has run its course, the consequences are best kept out of the news. With environmental issues of course, the actual damage cannot be determined as it manifests itself over time. In the case of the BP spill for example, the effect this will have on Blue Fin Tuna which spawns in the Gulf will only be understood more clearly as the next generations of fish are born. But effect them it will. And there's tons of oil on the sea bed we can be assured of that.

The main thing is to keep any serious discussion among the mass of the population from taking place as these inevitably lead to questions of the role of the state in society, politics, economics etc. And the question of ownership of industry. 

Better to get Angelina Jolie's sex life back up there and keep things safe.