First published 2012
Sarah Chen arrives at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C. for what should be a routine two-day workshop on regulatory policy. As an EPA risk analyst, she expects dry presentations about de minimis risk concepts and safety thresholds. Instead, she finds herself caught between competing factions from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, and Electric Power Research Institute. Each group pushes different interpretations of acceptable risk levels, turning theoretical discussions into heated confrontations over real regulatory decisions. When classified data about varying risk magnitudes surfaces during the proceedings, Sarah must navigate the treacherous waters between scientific integrity and political pressure. The workshop becomes a battleground where careers hang in the balance and public safety decisions worth billions of dollars get made behind closed doors. Sarah discovers that the greatest risk may not be in the regulations themselves, but in the people who write them.
Genres: science-fiction, contemporary, political-thriller, academic
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: corruption, whistleblower
Setting: Brookings Institution, Washington D.C., EPA, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, Electric Power Research Institute
Period: 21st-century
228 pages · Paperback · Springer