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SCP-1277 Safe ✓ high confidence
SCP-1277
Expected annual
$81K
One-time setup
$65K
Annual recurring
$77K
Personnel
0.3
One-time facility and equipment setup (~$64.8k) is the primary up-front cost; recurring annual operation and oversight (monitoring, research, utilities, overhead) is modest (~$77k/yr baseline) with staffing choices as the largest driver.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $65K
Facilities $37K
[#1, #2, #10] Containment chamber build-out (~$30,000), room sound-damping (~$5,500), plumbing hookup (~$1,250). Includes labor, finishes, permits and plumbing.
Equipment $11K
[#3, #4, #8, #11, #13] Sound-dampening headgear procurement (~$1,000), CCTV hardware & installation (~$4,000), plant support systems (irrigation/potting) one-time (~$1,150), PPE one-time (~$400), signage/sensors hardware/integration (~$4,300).
Replacement Specimen $6K
[#23] Replacement/retirement costs if the saguaro must be replaced (~$6,500 midpoint).
Cover Story Contingency $6K
[#19] Public relations / cover/containment deception contingency (~$5,500 one-time estimate).
Legal Permits One Time $4K
[#18] Legal/permit and provenance paperwork one-time (~$3,750 midpoint).
Medical Screening Initial $900
[#12] Baseline audiograms / initial occupational health screening for 6 staff (~$900).
Emergency Kit And Sops $500
[#14] Emergency response kit and SOP documentation (~$500).
Initial Research And Lab Setup $0
[]
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $77K/yr
Staff Wages $20K/yr
[#6, #7, #15] Ongoing pro-rated wages/benefits for horticultural care (0.15 FTE) and a small research assistant allocation (0.15 FTE) totaling ~$20,000/yr.
Research And Monitoring $20K/yr
[#15, #16, #24] Ongoing research budget (recording/transcription/analysis) and audits: research allocation (~$16,500/yr), audio analysis/software/licenses (~$1,750/yr), record audits (~$1,250/yr).
Administrative Overhead $14K/yr
[#17] Site-77 share of utilities, insurance allocation, management overhead (~$8k–20k/yr; midpoint ~$14,000).
Monitoring Marginal $8K/yr
[#6] Marginal cost if CCTV monitoring/logging is absorbed by existing staff (~$0–10k range; midpoint ~$7,500/yr).
Contingency Fund $6K/yr
[#20] Reserve for unexpected repairs, anomalous behavior, equipment failure (recommended 10–20% of operating budget; ~$6k/yr here).
Facilities Maintenance $2K/yr
[#1, #9] Climate control electricity (~$1,800/yr) and occasional room/HVAC/door maintenance (~$500/yr).
Emergency Drills And Oncall $2K/yr
[#14] Periodic drills and on-call medical/psych coverage (~$1,000–3,000/yr; midpoint ~$2,000).
Supplies And Consumables $1K/yr
[#8, #11, #21, #25] Soil/fertilizer/irrigation consumables (~$400/yr), PPE replacements (~$100/yr), waste/green waste disposal (~$300/yr), minor consumables/janitorial (~$650/yr).
Insurance $1K/yr
[#22] External insurance or internal accounting cost (~$500–2,000/yr; midpoint ~$1,250).
Video Storage And Retention $1K/yr
[#4, #5] Continuous 1080p recording retention, storage replacement and power (~$1,100/yr combining NVR maintenance and storage costs).
Cover Story And Legal $1K/yr
[#18] Ongoing legal retainer / cover-story upkeep (~$1,000/yr).
Medical Screening Recurring $300/yr
[#12] Annual audiogram / follow-up occupational health checks for assigned staff (~$300/yr).
Sensor Maintenance $200/yr
[#13] Motion/RFID/sensor maintenance and occasional replacements (~$200/yr).
Headgear Replacement $200/yr
[#3] Annual replacement parts/consumables for sound-dampening headgear (~$200/yr).
Water And Plumbing $175/yr
[#10] Ongoing water usage and plumbing maintenance (~$50–300/yr; midpoint ~$175/yr).
Logistics And Transport $0/yr
[]
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $77K/yr
85.0% probability / year
Normal uneventful year with integrated monitoring and no major incidents; routine maintenance, research, and overhead only.
routine_operations no_major_incident
🚨 Minor Incident $82K/yr
6.0% probability / year +$5K vs baseline
Temporary spike in vocal activity or minor exposure requiring extra on-call medical support, overtime, additional storage and incident reporting.
increased_vocal_activity minor_exposure_or_distress
🚨 Major Breach $97K/yr
1.0% probability / year +$20K vs baseline
Loss or death of SCP-1277, major equipment failure, or public exposure requiring replacement specimen, PR/legal action, and rapid containment response.
saguaro_death public_exposure major_equipment_failure
🚨 Dedicated Monitoring $124K/yr
8.0% probability / year +$48K vs baseline
Operational decision to hire a dedicated 1.0 FTE security/monitoring analyst to log jumps instead of marginal/integrated monitoring.
policy_change increased_monitoring_requirements
👥 Personnel 0.3 total
Role Count Notes
Horticulturist 0.15 [#7] Pro-rated horticultural FTE (0.1–0.25 FTE) to handle watering and pruning; cost included in staff_wages.
Research Assistant 0.15 [#15] Small research support allocation (0.1–0.25 FTE) for audio logging/analysis; cost included in staff_wages.
📋 Confidence Notes
Analyst notes and the article provide granular line-item ranges for construction, equipment, staffing, and recurring items; estimates use midpoints where ranges exist. Biological object is Safe and low complexity, reducing uncertainty. Uncertainty remains around staffing choices which are captured in scenarios.
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