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SCP-1029 Safe ~ medium confidence
SCP-1029
Expected annual
$357K
One-time setup
$432K
Annual recurring
$350K
Personnel
2.55
Initial one-time setup is moderate (~$432,000) driven primarily by a targeted internal research program and secure hardware; annual recurring operations are estimated at ~$350,000/year driven by staff wages (analytical staffing and security), contracted analyses, monitoring, and legal/OPSEC activities.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $432K
Long Term Research Program $300K
[#24] Multi-month targeted research program to reproduce mechanism and develop controls (2–4 researchers, lab support, software/hardware development).
Equipment $36K
[#1, #4, #5, #10, #11] Archival media (M-DISC/flash), secure offline viewing stations (3 sites), legacy display acquisition/refurbishment, PPE/hood minor hardware, small freezer/refrigerator for sample storage.
Initial Research And Lab Setup $28K
[#6, #9] Air-sampling setup (adsorbent tubes, pumps, traps) and olfactometry/human-subject testing setup (room/olfactometer, consent/admin setup).
Legal Pr One Time $20K
[#20] One-time legal and PR costs for takedown and cover-up actions (mid-range estimate for cross-jurisdictional activity).
Cyber Takedown $10K
[#15] One-time cyber operations / takedown costs (tracing, legal outreach, host takedown; mid-range estimate).
Covert Online Operations One Time $10K
[#19] Initial covert content-seeding / misinformation campaign setup (if required to drown out public copies).
Incident Response Setup $8K
[#13] One-time incident-response and decontamination kit setup, procedures, and initial tabletop exercise materials.
Digital Forensic Investigation $7K
[#17] One-time digital forensics trace and audit (IP tracing, log analysis, international tracing contingency).
Facilities $6K
[#2] Vaulted physical storage upgrades at existing sites (assumes minimal ~$2k/site × 3 sites).
Training Setup $5K
[#14] One-time secure handling protocol documentation and initial staff training/certification.
Replacement File Preparation $2K
[#16] One-time creation, lab verification, and secure replacement upload of a non-anomalous file.
Gcms Purchase $0
[#7] Option to purchase GC-MS (capital $50k–$200k) is available but set to $0 here because baseline uses outsourced analyses (see recurring GC-MS contract).
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $350K/yr
Staff Wages $220K/yr
[#8, #12] Analytical chemistry staffing (1 senior chemist + 1 technician) and pro-rated security overhead for access control/guard services.
Contingency Reserve $50K/yr
[#25] Annual contingency reserve to scale takedowns, legal actions, public-health responses in case of larger discoveries.
Research And Monitoring $16K/yr
[#7, #18] Contracted GC-MS/analytical services and ongoing web monitoring / reverse-image search services (outsourced analyses + commercial monitoring).
Cover Story And Legal $15K/yr
[#20] Recurring legal/PR retainer and rapid-response budget for takedown negotiations and public messaging.
Human Subject Testing Recurring $10K/yr
[#9] Recurring costs for subject payments, room hire and personnel for controlled olfactometry tests.
Covert Online Operations Yearly $10K/yr
[#19] Ongoing covert online operations or content-seeding to suppress public instances (if required).
Supplies And Consumables $8K/yr
[#6, #10, #22] Sampling consumables (sorbent tubes, solvents), PPE consumables, replacement media (CD-Rs/flash/sorbent tubes).
Integrity Checks It Maintenance $5K/yr
[#3] Periodic checksum verification, IT technician time for offline media integrity checks (approx. 40–160 hrs/year).
Documentation And Audit Compliance $5K/yr
[#27] Ongoing documentation, classification updates, and periodic compliance audits.
Incident Response Recurring $3K/yr
[#13] Annual drills, refreshers, and consumable replenishment for contamination/cleanup kits.
Logistics And Transport $2K/yr
[#21] Secure courier shipments (chain-of-custody) for samples/media (assumes a few shipments/year).
Training Recurring $2K/yr
[#14] Annual recertification and handling-protocol refreshers for authorized staff.
Energy And Utilities $2K/yr
[#23] Power for offline workstations, freezers and small monitoring servers.
Facilities Maintenance $1K/yr
[#2] Maintenance and minor upkeep of vaulted storage and secure cabinets.
Disposal And Destruction $1K/yr
[#26] Average annual cost for secure destruction operations of confiscated media (variable per operation).
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $350K/yr
94.0% probability / year
Normal year with no public exposure or major incidents; routine research, monitoring, and maintenance only.
no public leak outsourced analyses routine monitoring
🚨 Minor Incident $390K/yr
5.0% probability / year +$40K vs baseline
Limited public exposure or discoverable leak requiring takedown, forensic tracing, targeted legal action and modest additional monitoring.
small-scale public repost single-host resistant to takedown need for targeted forensics and additional legal support
🚨 Major Breach $850K/yr
1.0% probability / year +$500K vs baseline
Widespread public distribution or high-profile exposure requiring mass takedowns, expanded research, contingency response and significant legal/PR operations.
mass distribution media coverage / public health concern international hosts requiring legal action
👥 Personnel 2.55 total
Role Count Notes
Research Scientist (Analytical Chemist) 1 Senior chemist responsible for experimental design, interpretation, and oversight. Salaries included in staff_wages [#8].
Lab Technician 1 Technical sampling, equipment maintenance and routine analyses. Included in staff_wages [#8].
IT Technician (FTE) 0.05 Part-time IT support for checksum verification and offline station maintenance (0.05 FTE). Costs captured in integrity_checks_it_maintenance [#3].
Security Officer / MTF Agent (pro-rated) 0.5 Pro-rated security coverage for access control and occasional guard duties; costs included in staff_wages [#12].
📋 Confidence Notes
Estimates are based on analyst-provided ranges and typical Foundation practices; major uncertainties include whether a GC-MS is purchased versus contracted, scale of potential public exposure, and staffing arrangements across sites.
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