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SCP-1953 Safe ~ medium confidence
SCP-1953
Expected annual
$2.3M
One-time setup
$2.8M
Annual recurring
$2.1M
Personnel
15
Initial capital investment is moderate (several hundred thousand to a few million) dominated by specialized R&D and lab upgrades; recurring annual costs are driven primarily by staff wages (clinical + research + security), ongoing research/monitoring, and patient care/retrieval operations.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $2.8M
Equipment $1.3M
[#1, #5, #7, #13, #18] Secure containment locker with RFID/alarm, sensor suite setup (bed REM monitors, IR cameras, ingestive detectors), endoscopy and sterilization equipment, initial R&D prototypes for robotic/endoscopic tools, and retrieval vehicle + containment crates.
Contingency Reserve $1.0M
[#27] Recommended contingency/reserve fund for rapid scale-up (cells, teams, mass amnestics) if instances proliferate.
Facilities $275K
[#2] Containment cell retrofit at Bio-Research Area-17 (reinforced observation cell, anti-ligature fixtures, monitoring ports).
Initial Research And Lab Setup $250K
[#10] Laboratory containment upgrade (BSL-2+ suite: biosafety cabinets, autoclave, incubators, cold storage, HEPA and waste handling).
Initial Training And Sop Development $20K
[#24] One-time development & initial staff training on handling SCP-1953 items, emergency SOPs and drills.
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $2.1M/yr
Staff Wages $1.1M/yr
[#3, #4, #12] Salaries and benefits for clinical staff (nurses, sleep-medicine specialist on prorated FTE), dedicated security personnel, and research personnel (scientists and senior researchers). Includes payroll taxes/benefits and on-call stipends.
Research And Monitoring $430K/yr
[#6, #9, #11, #14, #25, #26] Ongoing sensor calibration/data storage/licenses, imaging access (CT/MRI scan budgets), microbiology sequencing & reagents, clinical trial/procedure costs, annual training refreshers and psychological/behavioral research programs.
Patient Long Term Care $200K/yr
[#17] Long-term clinical care costs for infected individuals (nutrition monitoring, medications, sedation regimes, psychology/psychiatry, inpatient observation).
Cover Story And Legal $150K/yr
[#20, #21, #22] Civilian cover-up and replacement items, amnestic administration program costs, legal/diplomacy/PR and small settlements/indemnities.
Administrative Overhead $150K/yr
[#28] Program manager, administrative assistant, procurement, recordkeeping, compliance and audit overhead (10–15% style overhead allocated as explicit recurring cost).
Logistics And Transport $60K/yr
[#19] Retrieval operations (field team salaries, vehicle maintenance, fuel, covert entry operational costs and temporary housing for seized items).
Supplies And Consumables $45K/yr
[#8, #15, #16] Endoscopy disposables & service contracts, PPE and decontamination supplies, regulated biohazard waste disposal contracts.
Public Health Coordination $25K/yr
[#29] Liaison with local health agencies, hospital reimbursements/stipends, coordination to avoid disclosure for ER-presenting cases.
Facilities Maintenance $15K/yr
[#23] Energy, HVAC and small facilities overhead for containment cell, sensors and lab (electricity, climate control allocation).
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $2.1M/yr
88.0% probability / year
Normal year with routine monitoring, occasional retrievals and ongoing research at planned funding levels.
routine_retrievals standard_research_activity no_major_exposures
🚨 Minor Incident $2.3M/yr
5.0% probability / year +$150K vs baseline
Localized medical complication, small contamination event or single-case public exposure requiring extra care and legal actions.
single_patient_complication small_public_exposure localized_contamination
🚨 Major Breach $3.6M/yr
1.0% probability / year +$1.5M vs baseline
Containment breach or multiple simultaneous infected individuals leading to significant retrieval, mass amnestic operations and legal/diplomatic costs.
cell_breach multiple_infected_detected public_exposure
🚨 Research Breakthrough Requiring Scale Up $4.1M/yr
6.0% probability / year +$2.0M vs baseline
Decision to pursue ambitious robotics/physics program after promising findings, triggering a major R&D funding injection and prototype procurement.
successful_preliminary_results need_for_advanced_robotics collaboration_with_physics_institute
👥 Personnel 15 total
Role Count Notes
Research Scientist 3 Mixed microbiology/molecular biology/GI-research roles (2–4 scientists suggested in notes).
Research Technician 2 Laboratory technicians for culture, sequencing and sample processing.
Clinical Nurse 2 24/7 nursing coverage for patient observation and procedures (2 FTE cited).
On-call Medical Specialist 1 Sleep-medicine specialist (0.2 FTE prorated) and GI surgeon on-call; represented as single on-call specialist resource.
Security Officer / MTF Agent 3 Dedicated security detail for cell and locker (2–4 personnel recommended).
Field Technician / Agent (retrieval team) 2 Field retrieval pair (tech + agent) for confiscations and covert operations.
Administrative Staff 2 Program manager and administrative assistant handling procurement, records and compliance.
📋 Confidence Notes
Analyst notes provide detailed line-item ranges allowing reasonable mid-point estimates, but uncertainty remains around number of infected patients, frequency of retrievals/exposures, and whether BSL-3/larger R&D escalation will be required; contingency and R&D outcomes drive wide variance.
← SCP-1952 ↑ All SCPs SCP-1954 →