Day of the Moron

An experienced engineer overseeing a breeder reactor worries about latent failure modes and the threat posed by emotionally unstable workers; he hires a psychologist to screen new hires for emotional morons whose impulsive, attention-seeking behavior could trigger disaster. The narrative follows technical anxieties about reactor safety, the psychologist's assessments, and the bureaucratic and interpersonal obstacles to preventing human-caused accidents, while mounting tension shows how a single reckless act can interact with complex systems to produce catastrophic consequences. It examines the interplay of technology, human fallibility, and organizational complacency in an era when ordinary recklessness can have devastating results.