Acts 17:16-34. Paul was escorted to Athens. Waiting for Timothy and Silas to arrive Paul reasoned with the Greeks about Jesus and the resurrection. Being Greeks they thought the resurrection was the female counterpart to Jesus, so they took him to Areopagus (or Mars Hill), where Paul gave his famous “Athens discourse”. Read it and reflect.
2 Chronicles 9. The Queen of Sheba praised Solomon,” the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.” The chapter continues listing Solomon’s wealth and splendor, ending with a record of his death.
2 Chronicles 10. Israel rebelled against Rehoboam, and nothing good came out of that.
United States used to be the leader in Thorium usage. What happened?
The 40 MWe Peach Bottom HTR in the USA was a demonstration Thorium-fueled reactor that ran from 1967-74. and produced a total of 33 billion kWh.
The 330 MWe Fort St Vrain HTR in Colorado, USA, ran from 1976-89. Almost 25 tons of Thorium was used in fuel for the reactor.
A unique Thorium-fueled light water breeder reactor operated from 1977 to 1982 at Shippingport in the USA– it used uranium-233 and had a power output of 60 MWe.
However, after 10 years passed and billions invested, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission abandoned Thorium research, with uranium-fueled nuclear power becoming the standard. In the 1980s, commercial Thorium ventures failed, such as the Indian Point Unit 1 water reactor near New York City, because of the vast financial costs of going it alone in a hostile regulatory environment, and fuel and equipment failures. By the 1990s, the US nuclear power industry had abandoned Thorium, partly because Thorium’s breeding ratio was thought insufficient to produce enough fuel for commercial industrialization.
After the Three Mile Island accident, Middletown, PA in 1979 there was a 30 plus year hiatus in building another nuclear plant, and Thorium was not on any politicians list of areas in which to invest scarce research funds.
Some research and development was still conducted, but it was more concentrated in protecting the U.S. leading position in monitoring and controlling existing nuclear technology. As a contrast even the Netherlands is developing a molten salt Thorium reactor.
Acts 17:1-15. Paul and Silas arrived in Thessalonica, preached in the Synagogue, many people were converted, the Jews didn’t like it and a crowd attacked Jason’s home. But in Berea they were welcomed: “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” The net result though was similar to what happened in Thessalonica, so Paul was escorted to Athens.
2 Chronicles 6 records Solomon’s speech when the work was completed and Solomon’s prayer of dedication.
2 Chronicles 7. Solomon dedicated the Temple, and God appeared to Solomon a second time, promising “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
The Generation IV International Forum’s current membership consists of:
Argentina*
Japan
Australia
Republic of Korea
Brazil*
Russian Federation
Canada
Republic of South Africa
People’s Republic of China
Switzerland
Euratom
United Kingdom
France
United States
* Non-active member.
The list of possible implementations is long and growing, Here are most of them: Most of them can operate on Uranium or Plutonium or mixed fuel including a fertile blanket of Thorium that converts to U-233 as fissile material. The remaining problem is the clean extraction of fission products and protactinium during full operation. In the mean time they will help generate enough U-233 for clean operation with minimum waste production.
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (GFR)
The GFR system is a high-temperature (850C) helium-cooled fast-spectrum reactor with a closed fuel cycle. It combines the advantages of fast-spectrum systems for long-term sustainability of uranium resources and waste minimization (through fuel multiple reprocessing and fission of long-lived actinides), with those of high-temperature systems (high thermal cycle efficiency and industrial use of the generated heat, for hydrogen production for example).
This system is ideal for co-generation of electricity and hydrogen production.
Lead-Cooled Fast Reactor (LFR)
a
This reactor type would have multiple applications including production of electricity, hydrogen and process heat. System concepts represented in plans of the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) System Research Plan (SRP) are based on Europe’s ELFR lead-cooled system, Russia’s BREST-OD-300 and the SSTAR system concept designed in the US. Numerous additional LFR concepts are also under various stages of development in different countries including China, Russia, the USA, Sweden, Korea and Japan.
Molten Salt Reactor (MSR)
. The onsite fuel reprocessing unit using pyrochemistry allows breeding plutonium or uranium-233 from Thorium.
Compared with solid-fuel reactors, MSFR systems have lower fissile inventories, no radiation damage constraint on attainable fuel burn-up, no requirement to fabricate and handle solid fuel, and a homogeneous isotopic composition of fuel in the reactor. These and other characteristics give MSFRs potentially unique capabilities for actinide burning and extending fuel resources.
MSR developments in Russia on the Molten Salt Actinide Recycler and Transmuter (MOSART) aim to be used as efficient burners of transuranic (TRU) waste from spent UOX and MOX light water reactor (LWR) fuel without any uranium and thorium support and also with it. Other advanced reactor concepts are being studied, which use the liquid salt technology, as a primary coolant for Fluoride salt-cooled High-temperature Reactors (FHRs), and coated particle fuels similar to high temperature gas-cooled reactors.
More generally, there has been a significant renewal of interest in the use of liquid salt as a coolant for nuclear and non-nuclear applications. These salts could facilitate heat transfer for nuclear hydrogen production concepts, concentrated solar electricity generation, oil refineries, and shale oil processing facilities amongst other applications.
Supercritical-Water-Cooled Reactor (SCWR)
SCWRs are high temperature, high-pressure, light-water-cooled reactors that operate above the thermodynamic critical point of water (374°C, 22.1 MPa).
SCWR designs have unique features that offer many advantages compared to state-of the-art water-cooled reactors:
SCWRs offer increases in thermal efficiency relative to current-generation water-cooled reactors. The efficiency of a SCWR can approach 44% or more, compared to 34-36% for current reactors.
Reactor coolant pumps are not required. The only pumps driving the coolant under normal operating conditions are the feed water pumps and the condensate extraction pumps.
The steam generators used in pressurized water reactors and the steam separators and dryers used in boiling water reactors can be omitted since the coolant is superheated in the core.
Containment, designed with pressure suppression pools and with emergency cooling and residual heat removal systems, can be significantly smaller than those of current water-cooled reactors.
The higher steam enthalpy allows to decrease the size of the turbine system and thus to lower the capital costs of the conventional island.
There remains a number of challenges before this approach can be fully implemented, and one limiting factor is composite materials that can withstand high pressure, high temperature and high radiation at the same time.
Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor (SFR)
The SFR uses liquid sodium as the reactor coolant, allowing high power density with low coolant volume fraction and operation at low pressure. While the oxygen-free environment prevents corrosion, sodium reacts chemically with air and water and requires a sealed coolant system.
Plant size options under consideration range from small, 50 to 300 MWe, modular reactors to larger plants up to 1 500 MWe. The outlet temperature is 500-550°C for the options, which allows the use of the materials developed and proven in prior fast reactor programs.
Very-High-Temperature Reactor (VHTR)
The VHTR is a next step in the evolutionary development of high-temperature gas-cooled reactors. It is a graphite-moderated, helium-cooled reactor with thermal neutron spectrum. It can supply nuclear heat and electricity over a range of core outlet temperatures between 700 and 950°C, or more than 1 000°C in future. The reactor core type of the VHTR can be a prismatic block core such as the Japanese HTTR, or a pebble-bed core such as the Chinese HTR-10.
The VHTR can support alternative fuel cycles such as U-Pu, Pu, MOX (Mixed Oxide fuel), U-Thorium.
Acts 16:16-40. In Philippi Paul and Silas were put in prison, but while singing praises to God their chains fell off, the Philippian Jailer, rather than killing himself asked “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Since Paul and Silas were Roman citizens they were asked to leave secretly, but they went to Lydia’s house instead. After that they departed.
2 Chronicles 3. Solomon did build the temple to man’s standard, six hands to a cubit. He even used gold nails instead of iron nails in the ceiling, far more gold than was called for in the tabernacle.
2 Chronicles 4 contains a listing of the temple furnishings.
2 Chronicles 5. The ark was brought into the Temple, and the glory of the LORD filled the Temple.
Acts 16:1-15. Timothy joined Paul and Silas in Lystra and in Troas Paul received “the Macedonian Call”. Lydia, a new convert was baptized at Philippi.
2 Chronicles 1. Solomon asked for wisdom, he received it and more, God also gave him economic and military power.
2 Chronicles 2. Solomon Prepared to build the temple, took inventory of all things collected and tallied the number of constricted aliens to do the work.
Psalm 45, of the Sons of Korah, a Wedding Song. C.S. Lewis saw this psalm pointing to Christmas: “The birth of Christ is the arrival of the great warrior and the great king. Also of the Lover, the Bridegroom, whose beauty surpasses that of man. But not only the Bridegroom as the lover, the desired; the Bridegroom also who makes fruitful, the Father of children still to be begotten and born.” (C.S. Lewis, as cited in Willem VanGemeren)
Acts 15. There was much ado about circumcision, and the believers decided to settle the issue at the Council at Jerusalem, which led to the Jerusalem decree, (in short: Abstain from fornication and from blood). Barnabas and Paul argued about Mark, so they split up, and Paul took Silas and embarked on the second missionary journey.
Proverbs 7. Keep the Law, Seek wisdom and above all, stay away from harlots! They will use every trick to get you!
Psalm 44. Of the sons of Korah. It is a Psalm recounting the great victories God gave the Israelites when they followed God, and the humiliating defeats they suffered when they did not. Yet the psalmists were trusting God and claimed they had not forgotten the Lord and ended with an urgent plea for help.
Acts 14. Paul went to Iconium, preached the Gospel and the Jews and some Gentiles threatened to stone him, so he fled to Lystra and they did. He and Barnabas then escaped to Derbe. From there they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Pisidian Antioch where Paul strengthened the converts, after which they went back to Attalia and sailed back to Antioch where they gave a report on their first missionary journey.
1 Chronicles 28. David instructed Solomon how to build the Temple, complete with promises and warnings for the future.
1 Chronicles 29 begins with a long list of offerings for building the temple, then is recorded David’s praise to God, after which Solomon was anointed King and finally recorded is the close of David’s reign.
From Denmark comes this interesting sales pitch for a nuclear waste, thorium based nuclear technology. Like most sales pitches it glosses over the remaining problems to implement it, and emphasizes advantages, which are many. Let us take a look at it:
Copenhagen Atomics’ headquarters are co-located with Alfa Laval in Copenhagen.[2]
History
Copenhagen Atomics was founded in 2014 by a group of scientists and engineers meeting at Technical University of Denmark and around the greater Copenhagen area for discussions on thorium and molten salt reactors, who later incorporated in 2015.[3] In 2016, Copenhagen Atomics was part of MIMOSA, a European nuclear molten salt research consortium.[4]
Copenhagen Atomics became the first private company in 2017, to offer a commercial molten salt loop.[5][6]
By the end of 2022, Copenhagen Atomics finished a full-size prototype reactor. The prototype is a full-scale test platform, to test the system in its entirety, with water as its medium. In 2023 a full-scale prototype molten salt reactor will be built to test the entire system with non-radioactive molten salts.[7]
Copenhagen Atomics is pursuing a hardware-driven iterative component-by-component approach to reactor development, instead of a full design license and approval approach. Copenhagen Atomics is actively developing and testing valves, pumps, heat exchangers, measurement systems, salt chemistry and purification systems, and control systems and software for molten salt applications.[9] The company has also developed the world’s only canned molten salt pump and are developing an active electromagnetic bearing canned molten salt pump.[9]
Copenhagen Atomics offers many of their technologies commercially available to the market. This includes pumped molten salt loops for use in molten salt reactor research, as well as highly purified salts for high temperature concentrated solar power, molten salt energy storage, and molten salt chemistry research.[10]
Environmental Impact
According to the website Thorium Energy World: “The CAWB [ed. Copenhagen Atomics Waste Burner] will use thorium to burn out actinides from spent nuclear fuel in order to convert long-lived radioactive waste into short-lived radioactive waste, while producing large amounts of energy and jobs in present time. End of Wikipedia quote.
The limiting factor in this molten salt reactors buildup is the availability of Uranium 233, the result of neutron bombardment of Thorium resulting in Protactinium, which converts to U-233, the real clean nuclear fuel in 29 days. The breeding gain is only 1.05, so it takes quite some time to build up the capacity. The separation stage is the critical stage, and they will not provide it, but the technology is there, but is not yet ready to be commercialized, and they were silent about who was going to do it. It is, which he also acknowledged, expensive with current methods.
Acts 13:13-52. From Cyprus, Barnabus and Paul went to the Pisidian Antioch. Paul preached Jesus powerfully, almost the whole city wanted to listen, the Jews got jealous and expelled them from the region. As a consequence Paul and Barnabas continued on their journey to Iconium.
1 Chronicles 26 lists the gatekeepers, the treasurers and other officials.
1 Chronicles 27 lists the military divisions, the leaders of the Israeli tribes and other officials.
Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment. 
