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SCP-174 Safe ~ medium confidence
SCP-174
Expected annual
$1.4M
One-time setup
$619K
Annual recurring
$1.4M
Personnel
11
Initial (one-time) setup costs are modest (~$0.6M) driven by containment retrofits, IT/security installation, and initial research/amnestic R&D; steady-state annual costs are dominated by recurring staff wages, research/monitoring, legal/cover operations, and contingency reserves (~$1.39M/yr).
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $619K
Initial Research And Lab Setup $341K
[#9, #17, #4] Amnestic R&D and initial production stockpile, initial experimental setup (fMRI/EEG access & protocol setup), plus R&D portion of filtered-monitor development (aggregate mid-range).
Equipment $137K
[#2, #4, #13, #15, #18, #28] Museum-grade containment case, surveillance installation portion, emergency medical equipment/initial drug stock, secure transport crate, IT/server deployment, and initial non‑visual recording gear (installation/hardware costs).
Facilities $82K
[#1, #3, #24, #25] Storage Unit-07 retrofit, HVAC installation, non-lethal holding-cell build-out, and archival-compatible disaster/redundancy installation (aggregate of mid-range estimates for structural/installation work).
Training And Sop Development Initial $30K
[#14] Development of written procedures, initial training program and SOP creation (one-time development & initial staff training).
Background Checks Initial $25K
[#19] Initial deep background checks and security-clearance processing for ~20 relevant staff (one-time/upfront costs).
Conservation Assessment Initial $4K
[#16] Initial professional conservator assessment and small restorations to stabilize the wooden artifact.
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $1.4M/yr
Staff Wages $380K/yr
[#5, #6] Salaries, benefits and overhead for dedicated on-site security (3–4 FTEs) and pro-rated senior/supervisory (Level-4) oversight/administrative time.
Research And Monitoring $308K/yr
[#4, #7, #8, #11, #12, #17, #27, #29] Ongoing filtered-monitor maintenance & monitoring staff, psychometric screening/testing, pre/post-interaction evaluations, 72-hour observation nursing/monitoring, counseling/psychiatric treatment, annual research program (EEG/fMRI/studies), ethics board review, and risk modeling exercises.
Cover Story And Legal $275K/yr
[#21] Legal, public-relations, cover-story maintenance and contingency operations for managing external exposure and settlements.
Incident Response Reserve $175K/yr
[#20] Annual contribution to forensic/cleanup/containment incident contingency reserve for potential violent/protective incidents (maintain fund for rapid response).
Witness Management $110K/yr
[#22] Annual contingency budget for non-staff witness amnestic campaigns, relocation, or other witness management operations.
Supplies And Consumables $61K/yr
[#23, #13, #28, #10] PPE/archival consumables, medical resupply (amnestic resupply & medical consumables), research consumables, and per-dose amnestic manufacture & administration costs (annualized).
Personnel Replacement And Turnover $35K/yr
[#30] Recruiting, onboarding, and training replacements for incapacitated or turned-over personnel.
Facilities Maintenance $20K/yr
[#3, #25, #16, #26, #18] HVAC/humidistat energy & maintenance, archival-safe suppressant/backups maintenance, periodic conservator follow-ups, pro-rated Site utilities/overhead, and IT/system maintenance.
Training And Sop Refreshers $10K/yr
[#14] Annual refresher trainings, drills, and SOP updates.
Logistics And Transport $6K/yr
[#15] Per-movement escort and secure transport costs (estimated frequency & per-movement escort/vehicle costs).
Background Check Renewals $6K/yr
[#19] Periodic reinvestigations & clearance renewals for staff permitted access.
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $1.4M/yr
90.0% probability / year
Normal operational year with no major incidents; containment, research, monitoring, and reserves funded as planned.
routine monitoring and research scheduled transports periodic psych screening
🚨 Minor Incident $1.5M/yr
8.0% probability / year +$100K vs baseline
Localized incident where 1–5 staff/witnesses require amnestics/medical monitoring and limited forensic/PR actions.
small-scale protective violence several staff require amnestic doses and monitoring
🚨 Major Breach $2.1M/yr
2.0% probability / year +$750K vs baseline
Significant exposure or violent incident requiring large amnestic campaigns, major forensic cleanup, legal settlements, and heavy PR/cover operations.
violent protective incident with casualties public exposure requiring mass witness management
👥 Personnel 11 total
Role Count Notes
Security Officer / MTF Agent 4 [#5] Dedicated on-site guards (3–4 FTE) for containment, response and escorts.
Research Scientist 2 [#17] Researchers conducting controlled studies, EEG/fMRI coordination and oversight.
Medical Officer / Nurse 1 [#11] Nurse/tech time for 72-hour monitoring and incident medical response.
Engineer / Maintenance 1 [#3, #25] Facilities and systems maintenance (HVAC, suppression, backup power).
Site Director / Executive Staff 2 [#6] Level-4 personnel required for approvals, oversight, and administrative sign-off.
IT Administrator 1 [#18] Maintain secure servers, redaction tools, and filtered monitoring infrastructure.
📋 Confidence Notes
Analyst notes provide detailed line items and ranges, allowing a reasoned cost model, but many items have wide ranges and frequency assumptions (incidents, transport frequency, policy on legal/cover actions) so totals retain moderate uncertainty.
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