Japanese officials announced early Wednesday that they have managed to stop the serious leak of water with high radiation levels that had been flowing into the Pacific Ocean from the pit and sea-intakes near Unit 2. That was the good news. The bad news is what’s still unsolved.

Saturday’s news focused on TEPCO finding contaminated water leaking into the ocean from a staging “pit” near Unit 2. The concrete pit has a large crack in it. Pumping out of contaminated flooded areas continue. Also, I provide comments on the AREVA Presentation of the accident sequence.

Japanese officials on Thursday confronted significantly increased radiation readings, well above safe levels on land and sea. The increases occurred even as they continued efforts to inject fresh water in Units 1-3 reactors and spent fuel storage ponds and pumped contaminated water out of turbine building basements and nearby trenches.

Sandbags. That’s right, we’re literally down to sandbags to keep a trench filled with highly radiative water from spilling its content into the sea.

Concerns on Friday focused on (1) the continuing spread of radiation in Fukushima and surrounding prefectures, with local citizens anxious to evacuate areas beyond the mandated 20 kilometer radius and (2) the inability of the government either to gain control of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi reactors or to explain the exact source and nature of the continuing radiation leaks.

Earlier hopes that restoring offsite power to the control rooms at Units 1-2 and 3-4 would allow quick reactivation of normal cooling systems were dashed with discovery, anticipated in our coverage, that critical pumps, valves and pressure censors might be damaged and need repair or replacement. In the meantime, radiation fears are spreading to tap water.

It’s Monday morning in the US; it’s Monday evening in Japan.

Quick Summary: Over the weekend, hopes of getting the reactors and spent fuel storage pools cooled rose significantly at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Station, although on Monday, new black smoke was observed rising from Unit 3 forcing another evacuation there. They’re not sure whether there was another explosion (none was heard) or about the source/cause of the smoke.

Even if the Fukushima reactor is brought under control the destiny of the area and those who are there is almost certainly unpleasant.

Even by recent standards there is a disturbingly high quotient of desperation and farce at the Fukushima Nuclear Plant right now.

I’m struggling to understand why Obama Administration officials appear to be trying to lecture the Japanese government and particularly its nuclear emergency workers on the seriousness of the situation at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Generation Station. How is this helpful?