The potential for inconvenience, injury or worse goeshand-in-hand with anything that makes lives easier.

Perhaps nowhere is that more true than in the area of energygeneration. From merely striking a match to light a fire for warmthto the production of nuclear power, risks are associated with eachactivity.

But when those risks become reality, such as they did last week ata nuclear plant following Japan’s massive earthquake and tsunami,it is not the time to cease all activity out of fear of arecurrence. However, the wake of that disaster has seen a fairamount of hand-wringing and worry from many – some of whom havepolitical motivations for their beliefs – with calls to do justthat.

Similar fears, doomsday prognostications and calls to abandondrilling were raised last year when an oil spill wreaked havoc inthe Gulf of Mexico. While some politicians remain hesitant to grantpermits for the resumption of drilling efforts, the Gulf region isslowly rebounding and a return to normalcy is at least partiallyunder way.

Mother Nature is a powerful force, and sometimes that unleashedforce brings suffering and difficulty for mankind. Those illconditions are met with human resolve and nature’s own resiliencybegins to the set the course right again.

Certainly, this is not to say safety and the proverbial “ounce ofprevention” should be ignored out of some misguided Pollyanna senseof everything’s going to be all right.

When a disaster happens, concerns must be raised and increasedattention to safety paid. Further education on how and why badthings may happen is an additional step that should be taken.

Indeed, with the Brookhaven area only about 60 miles fromMississippi’s only nuclear power plant, Grand Gulf in Port Gibson,area residents would be wise to be a little more attentive to thegoings on there.

And the fact that part of Mississippi lies on the New Madrid faultline adds to the need for heightened awareness. The line, though,is mainly in the northern Midwest and only barely touches theMagnolia State.

Therefore, in an article by The Sun Herald, Mississippi EmergencyManagement Agency executive director Mike Womack said there’s verylittle risk of Grand Gulf being damaged by an earthquake.

“The farther you get from Memphis the less damage we anticipatefrom a large earthquake that would affect northern Mississippi,” hetold the newspaper.

While those comments addressed fears over damage potential,Southern District Public Service Commissioner Leonard Bentz in thesame article expressed concerns that the Japan incident willundermine public opinion and erase years of good will.

“The U.S. was finally grasping the nuclear move to electricity,”said Bentz, who also feared that renewed worries over pastincidents could “put nuclear power back on the back burner.”

Bentz’ comments should be well-received and illustrate why oneincident, albeit one on a major scale, should not derail nuclear asa power generation tool.

“It’s the most efficient and best way to produce energy,” hesaid.

Furthermore, the U.S. needs to be open to all opportunities forenergy generation – solar, wind, thermal, natural gas andclean-burning coal – with the goal of reducing foreign dependenceon fossil fuels.

Reasoned reactions that focus on improved safety and how best toprevent future incidents represent the best response tocatastrophes like the one in Japan. Overreaction and calls forabandonment of nuclear energy generation options only stoke fearsand serve no useful purpose.