SCP-098 — SCP-098 | Cost Breakdown

Read on SCP Wiki ↗

SCP-098 Safe ~ medium confidence

SCP-098

Expected annual

$1.3M

One-time setup

$1.2M

Annual recurring

$1.3M

Personnel

Initial one-time containment and setup estimated at $1,227,000, driven by construction, contingency reserves, and security/containment hardware. Recurring annual costs are approximately $1,268,000, dominated by staff wages (security, care, and research), feed/maintenance, insurance, and specialized disposal/energy costs.

🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $1.2M

Containment Upgrade $500K

[#30] Contingency estimate for a potential future upgrade to higher-security containment (negative pressure, full decon airlocks, panic rooms).

Facilities $250K

[#1] Build-out of a 10 m x 20 m reinforced, waterproof containment room with sealed floor, airlock and compliance labor.

Contingency Reserve $150K

[#25] Initial reserve fund for unexpected expenses, emergency equipment procurement or temporary secondary enclosures.

Initial Research And Lab Setup $52K

[#18, #19] Basic in-house analytical kit (sequencing/imaging equipment) and acoustic recording/playback hardware/software licenses.

Aquatic Systems $40K

[#2] Pool installation, pumps, filters, plumbing, heaters and redundancy for recirculating systems.

Equipment $30K

[#5] CCTV, microphones, motion/contact sensors and secure redundant storage hardware (one-time installation).

Pr Initial $30K

[#23] Initial public relations/cover-story costs, community management and legal outreach to mitigate exposure.

Permits And Legal Setup $30K

[#16] Initial permits, quarantine fees, import compliance and legal setup for containment and cover.

Perimeter Security $25K

[#6] Biometric locks, access control installation, intrusion alarms and fencing as needed.

Containment Materials $25K

[#20] Thick polycarbonate panels, stainless steel mesh and silica-cutting-resistant contact surfaces.

Water Treatment $20K

[#4] Holding tanks, pre-treatment, filtration/backwash plumbing tied to sewer or biohazard handling.

Ppe And Handling $20K

[#10] Cut-resistant suits, long-handled tools, remote manipulators and non-lethal deterrence installation.

Training Development $15K

[#28] Development of SOPs, hands-on training programs and certification materials.

Substrate And Habitat $10K

[#3] Initial purchase and installation of sand substrate, rocks, driftwood and nesting structures.

Veterinary Equipment $10K

[#9] Initial veterinary supplies, necropsy/basic surgical tools and pathology setup.

Recordkeeping Setup $10K

[#22] Secure database setup, backup systems and initial secure storage for audio/video and medical records.

Emergency Setup $10K

[#14] Initial trauma kit procurement, emergency protocol setup and initial drills/training.

🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $1.3M/yr

Staff Wages $865K/yr

[#7, #8, #17] Security officers (4 FTE), animal care technicians (3 FTE), research staff (2 scientists + 1 tech), engineer (1), veterinary officer (1), administrative staff (1); total compensation and fringe.

Facilities Maintenance $40K/yr

[#1, #20] Routine structural inspections, HVAC/pump preventative maintenance and spot repairs of containment-contact surfaces.

Insurance And Liability $40K/yr

[#15] Institutional premiums for liability, worker injury and property damage related to containment of dangerous animals.

Logistics And Transport $35K/yr

[#24] Readiness fund for capture/transport operations, crate maintenance, vehicle readiness and per-mission travel/resupply (does not include occasional large per-operation costs).

Research And Monitoring $25K/yr

[#17, #18] Ongoing research project budgets, sound analysis project time and consumables for behavioral studies.

Cover Story And Legal $25K/yr

[#16, #23] Ongoing legal retainer, compliance work, and community/PR management costs (cover story maintenance, confidentiality payments if needed).

Feed And Feeder Husbandry $25K/yr

[#11] Costs of maintaining feeder animals or purchasing carcasses, housing/feed/vet care and regulatory compliance.

Legal Retainer And Compliance $25K/yr

[#16] Ongoing legal counsel for regulatory compliance, permits renewals and confidentiality/legal work.

Contingency Top Up $25K/yr

[#25] Annual top-up to the contingency/reserve fund to ensure readiness for mid-sized incidents.

Cleaning Labor $20K/yr

[#13] Weekly thorough cleaning labor, overtime for accounting, substrate turnover labor and disinfectants.

Emergency Ongoing $20K/yr

[#14] Ongoing training, local EMS contracts, drills and on-call emergency medical readiness.

Pr Ongoing $20K/yr

[#23] Ongoing community management, small compensation/communications and continued cover activities.

Outsourced Sequencing Imaging Per Project $15K/yr

[#18] Budget for outsourced DNA sequencing and high-end imaging projects that are not run in-house.

Breeding Control $15K/yr

[#21] Sterilization, contraception programs, population management and associated veterinary procedures.

Energy Costs $15K/yr

[#27] HVAC, dehumidification, continuous pumps and lighting for sealed 200m^2 containment room.

Biohazard Disposal $12K/yr

[#12] Regular contracted incineration, autoclave runs and regulated biohazard handling for remains and contaminated substrate.

Psychological Support $12K/yr

[#26] Employee counseling, screening and rotation programs to reduce PTSD/trauma risk from exposure to mimicry and gruesome feeding.

Supplies And Consumables $10K/yr

[ ] General consumables not mapped elsewhere (small tools, disinfectants beyond cleaning line items).

Training Refreshers $6K/yr

[#28] Annual refresher courses, certification renewals and periodic drills.

It Storage Maintenance $6K/yr

[#5, #22] Video/audio storage, secure hosting and IT maintenance for monitoring data and backups.

Containment Repairs Inspections $6K/yr

[#20] Periodic inspection and spot repair of panels, meshes, and contact surfaces.

Ethics Oversight $6K/yr

[#29] IACUC/ethics board review fees, administrative time and documentation costs.

Waste Disposal $5K/yr

[#4] Chemical costs, holding tank management and contracted disposal for used pool water and cleaning effluent.

Access Control Maintenance $4K/yr

[#6] Background check renewals, access system maintenance and credential replacements.

Ppe Replacements $4K/yr

[#10] Annual replacements, sterilization and consumable PPE items.

Recordkeeping Hosting $4K/yr

[#22] Hosting, secure backups and database maintenance for specimen logs and incident reports.

Aquatic Maintenance $3K/yr

[#2] Spare pump parts, filter replacements and routine aquatic system consumables.

Substrate Refresh $3K/yr

[#3] Periodic replacement/refresh of sand substrate and habitat furnishings due to fouling.

Acoustic Maintenance $2K/yr

[#19] Software license renewals and maintenance for acoustic analysis/playback systems.

⚡ Cost Scenarios

📊 Baseline (baseline) $1.3M/yr

92.0% probability / year

Normal operational year with no major incidents; regular maintenance, staffing, feeding and research continue as planned.

routine_operations no_breach scheduled_research

🚨 Minor Incident $1.4M/yr

7.0% probability / year +$75K vs baseline

Limited containment breach or localized incident requiring repairs, temporary medical care for staff, replacement of damaged gear and modest PR/legal expenses.

localized_breach staff_injury small_repair_and_replacement

🚨 Major Breach $2.3M/yr

1.0% probability / year +$975K vs baseline

Significant escape or public exposure requiring large-scale emergency response, containment upgrades, legal/insurance payouts and possible public health interventions.

multi-specimen_escape public_exposure construction_of_secondary_enclosures

👥 Personnel 12 total

Role	Count	Notes
Security Officer / MTF Agent	4	4 FTEs for 24/7 coverage; estimated avg comp ~$70,000 each (total ~$280,000) [#7]
Research Scientist	2	Senior/junior research scientists for behavioral/genetic/acoustic work; combined ~$200,000 (120k + 80k) [#17]
Research Technician	1	Lab/analysis technician supporting sequencing, imaging and acoustic work (~$40,000) [#17, #18]
Animal Care Technician / Keeper	3	Daily feeding, cleaning and monitoring staff (~$55,000 each; total ~$165,000) [#8, #13]
Engineer / Maintenance	1	Maintains pumps, HVAC and containment systems (~$80,000) [#2, #27]
Veterinary Officer	1	On-call or staff veterinarian for health checks and procedures (~$40,000) [#9]
Administrative Staff	1	Admin and compliance support (~$60,000) [#22, #16]

📋 Confidence Notes

Detailed analyst notes provide line-item ranges for most costs, enabling a quantified estimate; uncertainties remain in contingency/upgrade likelihoods, per-operation capture costs and staffing wage variations, so confidence is medium.

← SCP-097 ↑ All SCPs SCP-099 →