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SCP-072 Safe ~ medium confidence
SCP-072
Expected annual
$2.2M
One-time setup
$1.0M
Annual recurring
$2.2M
Personnel
16
One-time setup costs total roughly $1,014,000 driven by property acquisition and secure cell/equipment fit-out; recurring annual costs are about $2,172,523 driven primarily by staff wages (security, medical, research), per-incident medical treatment, and ongoing research/IT/support.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $1.0M
Property Acquisition And Relocation $600K
[#15] Property buyout/relocation/control (range $200k–$1,000k+); mid-range estimate used for site acquisition/control.
Per Additional Instance One Time $200K
[#21] One-time capital for each additional parallel containment cell/duplicate equipment (estimated $100k–$300k per extra instance).
Facilities $80K
[#1] Secure 3.5m x 4m holding cell construction (range $40k–$120k); estimate uses mid-range site/security build-out.
Initial Cover Story And Legal $60K
[#15] Initial cover/PR/legal payments (initial budget range $20k–$200k); mid-range estimate used.
Initial Research And Lab Setup $32K
[#5] Polysomnography and physiological monitoring (clinical-grade PSG rigs, EEG/EOG/EMG/ECG and analysis tools) estimated mid-range $15k–$50k.
Equipment $26K
[#2, #3] Calibrated lighting controls and lux sensors ($3k–$12k) plus high-sensitivity cameras/IR/thermal equipment ($8k–$25k) and initial NAS storage ($1k–$3k); combined mid-range estimate.
Sop Development $10K
[#14] Initial development of containment SOPs and initial staff training development ($5k–$15k).
Medical Initial Consumables $6K
[#6] Initial on-site trauma/first-aid and consumables stock ($3k–$8k initial).
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $2.2M/yr
Staff Wages $925K/yr
[#7, #8, #9] On-call/contract medical support ($100k–$300k), permanent/rotational security staff (6 guards, $250k–$450k), research staff/admin overhead ($250k–$500k); combined mid-range salaries + benefits.
Per Additional Instance Recurring $400K/yr
[#21] Incremental recurring cost per additional parallel containment instance (staffing, research load) estimated $200k–$600k/year; mid-range used.
Contingency And Replacement Reserve $283K/yr
[#20] Contingency / replacement reserve (set at ~15% of recurring operational subtotal as recommended 10–20%).
Subject Medical Treatment $240K/yr
[#10] Per-incident medical treatment/surgery/prosthetics/recovery ($20k–$200k per subject). Assumes an average of ~4 treated subjects/year at an estimated average ~$60,000 per subject (analyst assumption to produce annual figure).
Research And Monitoring $175K/yr
[#17] Active research program budget (microscopy, sequencing, proteomics, MRI sleep studies, etc.) estimated $50k–$300k/year; mid-range used.
Legal And Liability Reserve $50K/yr
[#18] Annual legal/liability reserve or retainer ($20k–$100k/year).
Psychological Aftercare $34K/yr
[#11] PTSD and sleep-disorder treatment per subject ($2k–$15k first year). Assumes ~4 affected subjects/year at mid-range cost (~$8,500 first-year each).
Cover Story And Legal $30K/yr
[#15] Ongoing cover/PR and legal retainer ($10k–$50k/year recurring).
Logistics And Transport $15K/yr
[#16] Transport, rapid-response, vehicle amortization, fuel, emergency transfers baseline ($5k–$25k/year).
Supplies And Consumables $6K/yr
[#6, #12, #13] Annual PPE and biohazard contract ($2k–$6k), per-test consumables/replenishment (~$100–$500/test assumed modest test count), and decontamination/laundering per-test (~$100–$500/test); combined annual estimate assuming a small number of tests.
Data Storage And It Support $6K/yr
[#4] Continuous multi-camera recording, redundant backups, offsite encrypted backups, and IT labor ($2k–$10k/year).
Facilities Maintenance $5K/yr
[#1, #14] Ongoing cell maintenance, HVAC servicing, light-proofing inspections and annual SOP/audit support (annual maintenance estimates).
Energy And Utilities $3K/yr
[#19] HVAC, cameras, monitoring, and IT power for the cell ($1.5k–$4k/year).
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $2.2M/yr
82.0% probability / year
Normal operational year with expected testing cadence and no extraordinary incidents or discoveries.
routine testing no new instances discovered standard maintenance and research
🚨 Minor Incident $2.4M/yr
15.0% probability / year +$240K vs baseline
Year with elevated number of medical incidents/tests requiring extra emergency treatment, legal actions, and transport.
higher-than-expected test injuries multiple subject surgeries/rehab extra legal/PR expenses
🚨 Additional Instance Discovered $2.8M/yr
3.0% probability / year +$600K vs baseline
Discovery of a new physical instance requiring immediate construction of an additional containment cell and expanded operations.
new contaminated bed found need for duplicate containment cell and duplicate equipment
👥 Personnel 16 total
Role Count Notes
Security Officer / MTF Agent 6 [#8] Minimum 2 guards per shift, 3 shifts -> 6 guards (salaries + benefits included in staff_wages).
Research Scientist / Senior Researcher 1 [#9] Senior researcher/PI oversight (1 senior PI included in research salaries).
Research Technician / Sleep Technician 3 [#5, #9] 2–3 research assistants/technicians and sleep-study technicians for experiments and PSG operation.
Medical Officer / Nursing Staff 3 [#6, #7] On-call/contract physician and nurses for tests and post-op care (contracted equivalents counted toward headcount estimate).
Administrative Staff 1 [#9, #14] Protocol/admin support to manage approvals, scheduling, and documentation.
Engineer / Maintenance 1 [#1, #19] Facilities/HVAC/equipment maintenance support (part-time or shared).
IT Specialist 1 [#3, #4] IT/forensics support for secure storage, backups, and camera systems.
📋 Confidence Notes
Analyst notes provide numeric ranges and clear primary cost drivers (facilities, equipment, staff, medical/research). Remaining uncertainty centers on assumed incident frequency, per-subject treatment averages, and the probability/timing of discovering additional instances, so confidence is medium.
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