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SCP-1978 Safe ~ medium confidence
SCP-1978
Expected annual
$1.9M
One-time setup
$2.9M
Annual recurring
$1.8M
Personnel
10
One-time capital is dominated by possible off-site hardened backup site retrofits; recurring costs are dominated by on-site staff wages, off-site backup operations, secure transport/audit, legal/cover-up and contingency reserves.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $2.9M
Facilities $2.4M
[#1, #2, #6, #17, #18] Includes containment-room retrofit (#1 ~$55,000), isolated plumbing and dedicated tank/pump (#2 ~$16,000), a full hardened off-site backup facility retrofit/purchase option (#6 ~$1,750,000), wastewater holding/tanks plumbing (#17 ~$10,000), and one additional redundant archival site retrofit (~#18 $600,000).
Initial Research And Lab Setup $220K
[#22, #23] Investigation & research equipment and lab set-up for disappearance cases (#22 ~$200,000) and initial SOP development and training (#23 ~$20,000).
Equipment $190K
[#3, #4, #5, #8, #13, #16, #19] Dual-authority interlock hardware (#3 ~$25,000), sensor suite hardware (#4 ~$8,000), CCTV/NVR and write-once hardware (#5 ~$14,000), initial secure media hardware (#8 ~$30,000), evidence documentation kit (#13 ~$10,000), initial spare parts for vintage shower (#16 ~$12,500), and data-integrity/hardened IT hardware (#19 ~$90,000).
Secure Media Initial Hardware $30K
[#8] Initial encrypted air-gapped write-once media hardware (LTO/hardened SSDs) and related initial setup (~$20k-$40k; midpoint used).
Spare Parts Initial Stock $12K
[#16] Initial custom-machined spare parts for mid-1960s shower (~$5k-$20k; midpoint used).
Evidence Documentation Kit $10K
[#13] High-resolution cameras, lighting, evidence bags and initial field-lab kit (~$10,000 one-time).
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $1.8M/yr
Staff Wages $663K/yr
[#9, #10] 24/7 on-site security staffing (6 guards ≈ $338,000 incl. benefits) and on-site research team (2 researchers + 1 tech + part-time psychologist ≈ $325,000). Admin overhead (#24) is budgeted separately.
Contingency Reserve $250K/yr
[#15] Contingency fund / rapid-response reserve for disappearances and emergency response (~$250,000/yr reserve as recommended).
Cover Story And Legal $225K/yr
[#14, #26] Legal/liaison and cover-up budget (#14 ~$150,000/yr) plus public-facing/media control and records management (~#26 $75,000/yr).
Facilities Maintenance $160K/yr
[#6, #5, #19, #16, #17, #25, #18] Recurring remote backup site ops (marginal cost assuming use of an existing off-site vault, #6 ~$100,000/yr), CCTV/storage maintenance (#5 ~$4,000/yr), data-integrity ops (#19 ~$40,000/yr), spare-parts maintenance (#16 ~$3,000/yr), wastewater disposal/testing (#17 ~$3,000/yr), energy & utilities incremental (~#25 $10,000/yr), and additional-site recurring ops where applicable (#18 part-year marginals assumed minimal in baseline).
D Class Program $150K/yr
[#12] D-class procurement, housing and handling program costs (~$100k-$200k/yr; midpoint used).
Logistics And Transport $112K/yr
[#7, #8, #20] Monthly administrative audit travel to backup site (#7 ~$42,000/yr), secure media & courier recurring service and chain-of-custody transfers (#8 ~$40,000/yr), and secure long-distance transport budget for occasional transfers beyond effective radius (#20 ~$30,000/yr assumed annual budget).
Research And Monitoring $109K/yr
[#4, #11, #13, #17, #22, #23] Sensor monitoring (#4 ~$1,000/yr), medical & forensic per-test baseline budget (#11 ~$40,000/yr), evidence consumables (#13 ~$5,000/yr), wastewater testing/disposal (#17 ~$3,000/yr), investigation/research ops ongoing costs (#22 ~$50,000/yr), and annual refresher training/SOP updates (#23 ~$10,000/yr).
Administrative Overhead $100K/yr
[#24] Administrative overhead for O5 approvals, auditing staff and recordkeeping (~$100,000/yr).
Psych Support And Replacement $50K/yr
[#21] Psychological support, debriefing and staffing replacement reserve (~$25k-$75k/yr; midpoint used).
Supplies And Consumables $6K/yr
[#27] Miscellaneous consumables, small tools, seals, labels, printing and petty cash (~$3k-$10k/yr; midpoint used).
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $1.8M/yr
88.0% probability / year
Normal year with existing off-site vault used, routine testing/audits, no major incidents.
routine_testing monthly_audit no_data_corruption
🚨 Minor Incident $2.1M/yr
8.0% probability / year +$300K vs baseline
Localized data corruption or small containment-related disappearance requiring extra investigation, legal work and increased transport/audit activity.
limited_data_corruption one-off disappearance extra_audit_and_legal
🚨 Major Breach $4.0M/yr
4.0% probability / year +$2.2M vs baseline
Significant corruption of off-site backups or growth of effective area forcing construction/retrofit of a new hardened off-site facility and large recovery operations.
off-site_backup_failure widespread_record_corruption require_new_hardened_site
👥 Personnel 10 total
Role Count Notes
Security Officer / MTF Agent 6 [#9] Continuous 24/7 guard coverage for containment wing; six guards provides three-shift two-person rule (noting screening/benefits).
Research Scientist 2 [#10] Lead researchers responsible for protocol design, oversight and documentation.
Laboratory Technician 1 [#10] Lab tech to operate instrumentation, process samples and support tests.
Psychologist / Consultant 1 [#10, #21] Part-time psychologist consultant for subject screening and post-test debriefs; included as 1 FTE equivalent for staffing planning.
📋 Confidence Notes
Analyst notes provide many line-item ranges and operational requirements, enabling a mid-level confidence in recurring cost structure; several large items (off-site hardened facility, additional archives) have wide ranges and dependency on whether existing Foundation vaults are used, lowering confidence to medium.
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