The latest news in the efforts to stop a catastrophic event at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan is that highly contaminated water has pushed through a crack in the No. 2 reactor, and is leaking into the ocean. Officials at the plant tried to use an absorbent powder, sawdust and even shredded newspaper to block the leak, but so far, nothing has worked.

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.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) missed required deadlines to inspect key equipment that failed after the massive earthquake and tsunami hit the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, according to Reuters. A separate Reuters report also points out that the TEPCO CEO has virtually disappeared from public appearances or statements. These reports fit perfectly with TEPCO’s history of previous scandals that have led to the resignations of high-level managers in the past.

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.

TEPCO, (Tokyo Electric Power Company) which operates the failing nuclear power plants at Fukushima, has a history of scandals associated with its nuclear power operations. In 2002, one set of such scandals became so severe that the president, vice president and chairman of the company all resigned in disgrace. Most disturbing in this regard is that the scandal related to TEPCO hiding evidence of cracks in the containment vessels of their nuclear reactors. Also possibly related to the current crisis is one report I have found of Toshiba providing faulty gauges that are used in monitoring the reactor coolant systems.