SCP-189 — SCP-189 | Cost Breakdown

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SCP-189 Safe ~ medium confidence

SCP-189

Expected annual

$2.5M

One-time setup

$3.1M

Annual recurring

$2.5M

Personnel

Initial setup for a single dedicated containment wing is estimated at roughly $3.06M one-time, driven by containment suite retrofitting, research lab setup, and on-site incineration/waste treatment; ongoing annual costs are ~ $2.51M/year driven by salaries, an active research program, contingency reserves and security.

🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $3.1M

Facilities $1.0M

[#1] Containment suite retrofit (sealed chamber, airlock, chemical shower, negative-pressure HVAC, waterproof finishes, security/entry controls).

Initial Research And Lab Setup $900K

[#4, #6, #14, #27] R&D/validation for 189-A and chemical reagents, purchase of microscopy/imaging/sequencing instruments and initial long-term research program startup costs.

Incinerator Installation $500K

[#8] On-site medical/hazardous waste incinerator capital cost option (includes emissions controls).

Equipment $240K

[#2, #3] Cryo-containment hardware (ULT freezers, dewars, monitoring) and backup power hardware (UPS/generator/ATS).

Field Response Vehicles $160K

[#11] Purchase of 1–2 sealed biohazard response vehicles and initial portable field kits and tents.

Wastewater Treatment Installation $100K

[#18] Retrofit/installation of neutralization tanks, filters and plumbing to handle chemical shower effluent containing 189-A and eggs.

Ppe Initial $80K

[#5] Initial NBC suit purchase and respirators (20–30 suits plus spares, repair kits) and storage/decon equipment.

It And Secure Records $30K

[#22] Secure database, logging software, hardened servers and initial secure backups for access logs and chain-of-custody.

Training Program Init $25K

[#19] Initial training program setup, SOP documentation and initial drills for staff donning/doffing, chemical shower operation and outbreak response.

Regulatory Permitting $20K

[#30] Initial permitting, inspections and compliance costs for hazardous waste, animal work, building modifications and cryogen/storage regulations.

🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $2.5M/yr

Staff Wages $990K/yr

[#9] Salaries, benefits and overhead for baseline scientific/technical team (3 research scientists, 3 containment technicians, 1 veterinarian/medical officer, 1 admin).

Research And Monitoring $585K/yr

[#13, #27, #28, #20] Ongoing long-term research program funding (~500k/yr), routine diagnostics/screening program baseline (~50k/yr), periodic environmental swabbing/HVAC checks (~15k/yr), and contracted specialist services contingency (~20k/yr).

Security Staff $325K/yr

[#10] On-site security guards/escort staff salaries, training in contamination protocols and benefits (approx. 5 guards).

Contingency Fund Reserve $200K/yr

[#23] Maintained reserve for outbreak escalation: emergency hires, leased facilities, overtime, mass euthanasia/disposal and rapid scaling.

Supplies And Consumables $75K/yr

[#5, #7, #6, #24, #18] PPE consumables (gloves/filters), laboratory consumables (slides/stains/vials), sequencing run consumables, euthanasia/disposal supplies, and treatment chemicals for routine operations.

Chemical Reagent Procurement $50K/yr

[#4] Ongoing procurement/manufacture of 189-A reagents and validation batches after initial R&D.

Anti Parasitic Stockpile $50K/yr

[#14] GMP manufacture and stockpiling of 189-A doses, storage and rotation costs.

Facilities Maintenance $40K/yr

[#1, #3, #17] HVAC/HEPA filter replacements, structural/airlock upkeep, generator/fuel maintenance and periodic facility repairs; includes some decontamination upkeep.

Personnel Healthcare $30K/yr

[#25] Occupational medicine baseline: post-exposure treatment, paid sick leave and monitoring for staff.

Decontamination Reserve $25K/yr

[#17] Annual reserve for minor facility decontaminations, HVAC duct cleaning and filter replacement beyond routine maintenance.

Quarantine Reserve $20K/yr

[#15] Baseline reserve for quarantine ward readiness, supplies and increased staffing for short incidents (not full per-incident cost).

Amnestic Procurement $20K/yr

[#16] Baseline budget for Class C/B amnestics procurement and administration for small outbreaks.

Logistics And Transport $15K/yr

[#12] Biohazard transport, certified courier services and cold-chain logistics baseline budget.

Cover Story And Legal $15K/yr

[#21, #26] Baseline legal/PR and small cover-story or record-handling budget and minor secure disposal costs.

Training $15K/yr

[#19] Annual refresher training, drills and occupational health surveillance.

Cryo Resupply $12K/yr

[#2] LN2/cryogen resupply, routine monitoring service and alarm subscriptions for cryo-storage.

Contract Incineration Disposal $10K/yr

[#8] Contracted hazardous waste/incineration costs for items not processed on-site or overflow disposal.

Field Vehicle Maintenance $10K/yr

[#11] Annual fuel, maintenance and small repairs for response vehicles and field kits.

Animal Handling $10K/yr

[#24] Baseline humane euthanasia drugs, sedatives and incidental disposal costs for animals handled yearly.

It Maintenance $8K/yr

[#22] Ongoing maintenance, backups and security patching for IT/logging systems.

Replacement Item Reserve $5K/yr

[#29] Annual small reserve for replacement/disposal of contaminated furniture, bedding and personal items in minor events.

Regulatory Renewal $3K/yr

[#30] Recurring permit renewals, inspections and compliance fees.

⚡ Cost Scenarios

📊 Baseline (baseline) $2.5M/yr

85.0% probability / year

Normal year with no major infestations or facility-level contamination events; routine research, storage and containment operations continue.

no_external_infestations routine_operations

🚨 Minor Incident $2.6M/yr

12.0% probability / year +$75K vs baseline

Localized infestation discovered on staff or a small number of animals requiring quarantine, targeted decontamination, amnestics and limited incineration/disposal.

single_staff_infestation small_animal_outbreak localized_contamination

🚨 Major Contamination $3.0M/yr

3.0% probability / year +$500K vs baseline

Significant facility contamination requiring full decontamination, possible renovations, extended downtime, mass euthanasia of contaminated animals and larger public/PR/legal response.

facility_wide_infestation major_decontamination_and_renovation

👥 Personnel 13 total

Role	Count	Notes
Research Scientist	3	[#9] Research staff conducting taxonomy, lifecycle and treatment research.
Containment Technician	3	[#9] Technicians managing daily containment, decontamination and sample handling.
Veterinarian / Medical Officer	1	[#9] Medical oversight, treatment administration (189-A) and personnel health monitoring.
Administrative Staff	1	[#9] Administrative coordination, record-keeping and logistics support.
Security Officer / MTF Agent	5	[#10] On-site security presence, escorts for quarantine and transport security with contamination protocol training.

📋 Confidence Notes

Analyst notes provide detailed line items and ranges, allowing medium confidence in budgeting; uncertainty remains in frequency and scale of incidents, R&D needs for 189-A, and local construction/regulatory variance which prevents a 'high' confidence rating.

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