SCP-1621 — SCP-1621 | Cost Breakdown

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SCP-1621 Keter ~ medium confidence

SCP-1621

Expected annual

$13.3M

One-time setup

$24.1M

Annual recurring

$13.4M

Personnel

One-time capital and containment construction (~$24.1M) dominate upfront costs (stainless/copper containment, LN2 flood system, decontamination & decommissioning reserves). Recurring annual operations, staffing, legal/cover and remediation average ~ $10.9M/yr, with major breaches adding multi-million-dollar spikes.

🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $24.1M

Facilities $9.0M

[#1] Construction of BCA-09: stainless-steel/copper-lined containment chamber, soil bed, observation/maintenance access, clean-room shell, foundation and biosafety seals.

Decommissioning Fund $5.5M

[#24] One-time reserved fund for eventual safe closure, site remediation, cryogenic system dismantling and hazardous-waste remediation.

Initial Research And Lab Setup $2.8M

[#18] Research & pilot processing facilities: pilot plant equipment and analytical labs (capital).

Ln2 Flood System $1.8M

[#3] Bulk liquid nitrogen flood system capital: tanks, cryogenic pumps, insulated piping, automated valves, release systems and safety interlocks.

Legal And Permitting Initial $1.1M

[#19] Initial environmental permitting, legal, compliance and cover-up startup costs (permits, assessments, legal counsel).

Suits Initial $810K

[#9] Initial purchase of custom Level A polymer-sealed suits (8–20 units at custom prices); config for CO2/light-delivery ports.

Airlocks And Atmosphere Control $750K

[#2] Specialized multi-stage stainless/copper airlocks, hermetic safe rooms and atmosphere/pressure control systems with redundancy and detection integration.

Burn Incineration Chamber $600K

[#4] Stainless steel burn/incineration chamber capital with filters/scrubbers and hazardous-byproduct disposal hookups.

Hvac Inert Purge Scrubbers $600K

[#8] HVAC, inert-gas purge, scrubbers and redundant filtration (Cl2F6-compatible) installation.

Collection Storage System $475K

[#5] Collection, storage and transfer system for SCP-1621 byproduct: double-containment tanks, pumps, piping, valves, inert-blanketing and leak detection.

Power Backup Equipment $475K

[#13] Capital for UPS and backup generators sized for HVAC, pumps and control systems; includes generator infrastructure.

Gas Detection Installation $188K

[#7] Installation of very-low-ppb Cl2F6 gas detection network and networked alarm/integration with safe-room/sealing logic.

Piping Spares Initial $150K

[#6] Initial inventory of specialized piping, metal-to-metal seals and spare fittings rated for Cl2F6; custom parts stock.

Equipment $0

[]

🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $13.4M/yr

Cover Story And Legal $3.6M/yr

[#19, #25] Ongoing environmental compliance, legal defense, cover-story operations, relocation/indemnification/community management budget.

Public Relations And Relocation $2.5M/yr

[#25] Ongoing community management, relocation/compensation and PR/cover operations for affected populations and infrastructure.

Staff Wages $2.1M/yr

[#10] 24/7 staffing roster (site director, lead scientists, lab/technical staff, security with hazmat training, maintenance, admin) including shift premiums, benefits.

Insurance And Liability $1.1M/yr

[#23] Insurance, liability reserves and self-insurance funds for property damage, medical exposures and cleanup.

Logistics And Transport $775K/yr

[#16, #17] Field surveillance and eradication teams, vehicles, remote sensors, drones, and hazmat-certified transport/escorts for specimens/byproduct.

Research And Monitoring $600K/yr

[#18] Ongoing pilot processing / R&D ops and analytical lab operations to process byproduct and monitor containment.

Hazardous Waste Disposal $525K/yr

[#20] Licensed disposal, chemical stabilization and secure storage costs for contaminated soil, filters and residues.

Emergency Response Readiness $500K/yr

[#12] Dedicated hazmat rapid-response unit readiness, vehicles, specialized crews and contractual emergency access.

Ln2 Consumables $350K/yr

[#14] Routine LN2 resupply for testing, drills and small-scale neutralizations (plus per-event consumption costs).

Corrosion Maintenance Reserve $300K/yr

[#22] Accelerated replacement reserve for corroded metal surfaces, fasteners, instrumentation housings and unexpected repairs.

Field Eradication Operations $200K/yr

[#15] Budget for periodic excavation/tilling, soil removal and LN2 neutralization campaigns for outlying colonies (per-operation reserve averaged annually).

Power Fuel And Maintenance $150K/yr

[#13] Fuel contracts, generator maintenance and UPS servicing.

Training And Certification $150K/yr

[#11] Initial and recurring training, contractor trainers, certification and quarterly emergency drills.

Hvac Consumables And Energy $125K/yr

[#8] Consumables and energy costs for HVAC, inert purge and filtration systems.

Supplies And Consumables $112K/yr

[#21] Consumables: seals, gaskets, filter cartridges, PPE consumables, calibration gases.

Piping Replacement Spares $88K/yr

[#6] Ongoing replacement of specialized piping, seals and custom fittings due to Cl2F6 corrosion (annual replacement reserve).

Suits Replacement And Repairs $85K/yr

[#9] Ongoing repairs, replacement parts and maintenance for custom Level A suits.

Burn Chamber Operation $55K/yr

[#4] Annual operation, permitted disposal and operation costs for burn/incineration chamber (~$10k–$100k/yr).

Collection System Maintenance $30K/yr

[#5] Maintenance and minor operations for collection/storage/transfer system for byproduct.

Sensor Calibration And Maintenance $25K/yr

[#7] Periodic calibration gases, certified maintenance and sensor replacement for Cl2F6 detection network.

Facilities Maintenance $0/yr

[]

⚡ Cost Scenarios

📊 Baseline (baseline) $13.4M/yr

88.0% probability / year

Normal year with steady-state containment, routine training, maintenance, and no major containment incidents.

routine_operations scheduled_training minor_repairs

🚨 Minor Incident $11.6M/yr

10.0% probability / year +$-1800000 vs baseline

Localized containment breach or field colony flare-up requiring LN2 response, emergency remediation and limited repairs.

small_breach localized_field_neutralization LN2_flood_event

🚨 Major Breach $17.7M/yr

2.0% probability / year +$4.3M vs baseline

Facility-scale breach or multi-site outbreak requiring full LN2 flood, extensive decontamination, large-scale hazardous disposal and major legal/relocation expenses.

facility_flooding widespread_contamination legal_exposure

👥 Personnel 28 total

Role	Count	Notes
Site Director / Executive Staff	1	Overall site leadership and liaison for containment and legal matters. [#10]
Lead Scientists	3	Xenobotany / chemistry leads overseeing containment research and byproduct handling. [#10]
Research Scientists / Technicians	8	Day-to-day lab operations, sample processing, pilot plant operation. [#10, #18]
Security Officer / MTF Agent	8	Hazmat-trained security for 24/7 containment, escorts and breach response. [#10]
Engineer / Maintenance	4	HVAC, cryogenics, generator, and containment system maintenance; corrosion repairs. [#6, #8, #13]
Administrative Staff	4	Logistics, procurement, compliance and administrative support. [#10, #19]

📋 Confidence Notes

Analyst notes provide detailed line items and plausible ranges, enabling order-of-magnitude estimates; uncertainty remains due to site-specific scale of retained colony, regulatory variability and the highly anomalous behavior of Cl2F6 interactions, so medium confidence is appropriate.

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