If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then fear is in the heart of the worrier.

Three decades of fear have caused America to fall behind the world in finding a reliable, clean source of electrical power.

Despite being considered one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, we still lag behind some other countries in what would seem among the most basic of modern necessities — electrical power generation.

Our ever-growing need for more and more “juice” seems to be eclipsing both our capacity to generate more power and the infrastructure on which that power rides to your house.

Northern and western portions of the United States are no strangers to rolling blackouts or brownouts, during which power is cut off or diminished regionally.

Ironically, we’ve had the technology to fix this problem since the 1970s, but something has prevented us from resolving this — fear.

Long-term solutions include all sorts of Buck Rogers’ like answers, none of which are ready for prime time. For short-term solutions, however, nuclear power is an obvious answer.

Nuclear power isn’t perfect, but it is generally better, and cleaner than most coal-burning power generating plants.

A group is working on plans to bring a second nuclear reactor to Entergy’s Grand Gulf Nuclear Station just up the road from us near Port Gibson.

If that deal takes wings it will be a few years before the plans are approved and several more before construction could be completed.

Such a facility would step us closer to energy independence and also reduce the emissions from coal-fired plants.

One day, our dependence on fossil fuels will be behind us, and our fears of nuclear power a thing of the past. That will truly be a beautiful day.