Don Miley of Idaho National Laboratory leads a highly enjoyable and thought-provoking tour through the images, perceptions, and yes, the reality of 'nuclear' and nuclear energy research through history.

The world's first Westinghouse AP1000 pressurized water reactor is scheduled to begin operation later this year at the Sanmen Nuclear Power Station in China. Another AP1000 is scheduled to go online later this year at the Haiyang nuclear power plant in China, with two more AP1000 units to be operational at those sites in 2015, and four additional to follow after that.

"It is time to make the case for science," says host Neil deGrasse Tyson of the upcoming relaunch of the classic 1980 series Cosmos. The new Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey premieres this Sunday, March 9, on FOX, and Monday, March 10, on the National Geographic Network-all in all, in 170 countries and 45 languages, the largest global opening ever for any television series, according to executive producer, writer, and director Ann Druyan.

Fans of the popular games Portal and Portal II will get a kick out of this one-or just fans of evil and corrupt artificial intelligences-or just fans of nuclear fission, fusion, and astronomy.

Researchers at the Idaho National Laboratory have demonstrated realistic full-core predictive modeling of a commercial nuclear reactor over multiple years of use. The simulation platform is named MOOSE (Multiphysics Object Oriented Simulation Environment).

In honor of the Seattle Seahawks' convincing victory in the Super Bowl just a few short days ago, today's Nuclear Matinee videos come straight from the great state of Washington, home to Energy Northwest's 1,170-megawatt Columbia Generating Station-which, incidentally, produces enough electricity to power a city the size of Seattle.

In today's Nuclear Matinee, take a trip inside a nuclear reactor core with Jem Stansfield and the BBC. Jem explores a never-used reactor core at the Zwentendorf nuclear power plant in Austria to explain, in the most straightforward of terms, how a nuclear power station works.

A nuclear power station contributes a lot more in benefits to a community and region than just massive amounts of 24/7 electricity generation-although it should be noted that, in the case of Seabrook Station alone, 42 percent of New Hampshire's entire electricity generation comes from this single power plant. Amazing. See this excellent post at NEI Nuclear Notes for more on Seabrook's "bigger picture," and this story for more on regional economic benefits in particular.

Ha!  Words don't do justice - just click 'play,' faithful Matinee viewers, and enjoy.

Having a few days ago caught up with the latest milestones in construction of new nuclear units at Plant Vogtle in Georgia, let us take a look at the latest history in the making at the construction site of units 2 and 3 of the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Generating Station in South Carolina - and in the local community surrounding one of the largest construction projects in the state's history.  Construction of two new Westinghouse AP1000 reactors officially began in March 2013 and the reactors are planned to be online in 2018.

It's been more than two years since Vogtle Units 3 and 4 began to rise from the landscape near Waynesboro, Georgia-though construction officially began just last March with pouring of the Unit 3 basemat concrete, and a few months ago in November with the Unit 4 basemat. Turbine buildings, cooling towers, AP1000 reactor operator training... 2013 saw great strides toward the first new commercial nuclear power reactors in the United States in 30 years. Join host Joe Washington for a tour of the most recent milestones achieved in this amazing construction project.

Today's Nuclear Cafe Matinee takes faithful viewers "across the pond"-well, at least if one is situated in North America-to chat with Hinkley Point B Station Director Mike Harrison in southwest England.

News out of Fukushima-Daiichi this week is encouraging:  TEPCO successfully transferred the first batch of fuel rod assemblies from the reactor unit No. 4 spent fuel pool to a common fuel pool building offering longer-term stable storage conditions. Completing the process for the more than 1,000 fuel rod assemblies that remain at No. 4 is projected to take a year, and will be a first major step toward decommissioning of the site.

The Sun is powered by the strongest source of energy in the universe - nuclear fusion - and teams of scientists and engineers around the world are working toward harnessing fusion to power the long-term future of civilization.  In effect... they are working to "create a star" on earth.

Today's ANS Nuclear Cafe Matinée takes faithful viewers through the beautiful waterways and countryside of France, following the route of the massive reactor pressure vessel being delivered to the new 1,650 MWe European Pressurized Reactor under construction at the Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant.

Can we assume that everyone knows that the misty cloud from a cooling tower at a nuclear plant - is simply water?

Two new AP1000 nuclear power reactors are under construction at the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Generating Station in Fairfield County, South Carolina. Along with two new units at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Georgia, these are the first new nuclear units built in the United States in the past three decades.

The ANS Nuclear Cafe Matinee is usually celebrated on Fridays-but this time, we just couldn't wait.

Years ago, filmmaker Robert Stone helped Michael Moore make his very first movie (Roger & Me). Here, Stone and Moore discuss the pro-nuclear energy documentary Pandora's Promise, directed by Stone and featured this summer at Moore's Traverse City Film Festival.

The ANS Nuclear Cafe Matinee today visits the Switch Energy Project and its impressive array of interviews with world-class energy experts.