SCP-1997 Safe ~ medium confidence
SCP-1997
Expected annual
$299K
One-time setup
$1.2M
Annual recurring
$291K
Personnel
4
One-time contingency and experimental setup costs dominate the program budget (heavy-storage, robotic rigs, and structural reinforcement), while annual staffing, overhead, security, and occasional testing drive recurring costs (~$0.29M/yr). Baseline operations are modest but catastrophic containment or scale-up can push one-time costs into the mid-six-figures to >$1M.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $1.2M
Heavy Storage Contingency $525K
[#13] Contingency for long-term high-mass storage/relocation (bunker, below-ground vault, transport) if mass becomes large.
Equipment $152K
[#1, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #10] Archival-grade locking/fire-resistant cabinet (#1); optional micro-HVAC unit installation (#3); high-resolution digitization hardware and setup labor (#4); remote handling toolkit (#5); robotic unfolding rig and safety enclosure (#6); load-measurement rig and scales (#7); security hardware (badge readers/locks) (#10).
Incident Response Reserve $138K
[#11] One-time reserved contingency fund for emergency containment responses (crane rental, shoring, rapid repairs).
Outsourced Collaboration $112K
[#18] Fee for a specialized external collaboration/project (physics/metrology/national lab contracting).
Facilities $105K
[#12] Structural assessment and floor reinforcement: estimate covers floor reinforcement or routing tests to reinforced bays (range $10k–$200k).
Disposition Contingency $105K
[#23] Contingency budget for possible future destruction/disposition (incineration/industrial disposal) if policy changes.
Initial Research And Lab Setup $42K
[#8] Initial materials/forensics analysis battery (outsourced/dedicated testing: FTIR, SEM, dating, fiber analysis, etc.).
Legal And Pr $28K
[#19] One-time legal/cover-story and public-relations materials for civilian explanations or recalls.
Sop And Training Initial $6K
[#15] Initial SOP development, classroom training, signage and recordkeeping setup.
Sleeves Initial $100
[#2] Initial purchase of archival polyester sleeves and buffered folders (assume ~10 spares initial).
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $291K/yr
Staff Wages $165K/yr
[#9] Ongoing research staff time: allocation for 0.25–1.0 FTE senior researcher, 0.5 FTE lab tech, and clerical support (salaries + benefits).
Overhead And Contingency $60K/yr
[#20] Institutional overhead, insurance, and contingency uplift applied to recurring program costs (~15–30% uplift).
Incident Response Replenishment $25K/yr
[#11] Annual replenishment of emergency containment/reserve funds to maintain readiness.
Security And Access $15K/yr
[#10] Recurring costs for access control maintenance, badge logs, and portion of guard oversight time.
Psych Screening $6K/yr
[#14] Psychological screening and periodic counseling for personnel working on SCP-1997.
Digital Records And It Security $6K/yr
[#4, #17] Digital storage/backups for photographic spreads, secure servers, encrypted backups and restricted-access database (includes digitization backup costs).
Research And Monitoring $5K/yr
[#8] Recurring/periodic materials or outsourced analytical tests and monitoring beyond the initial battery.
Sop And Training Refresher $3K/yr
[#15] Refresher training and onboarding costs for new staff.
Supplies And Consumables $3K/yr
[#16, #22, #2] Ongoing consumables and housekeeping (gloves, wipes, archival tape, replacement sleeves, camera bulbs, batteries) and small-scale experimental consumables (crayons, inks).
Logistics And Transport $2K/yr
[#21] Secure transport and logistics for occasional off-site testing or relocation (per-shipment costs averaged annually).
Facilities Maintenance $2K/yr
[#3] Climate control marginal utilities and monitoring if room-level control is used (electricity, sensors).
Cover Story And Legal $0/yr
[]
Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $291K/yr
94.5% probability / year
Normal uneventful year covering staffing, routine maintenance, supplies, IT backups, overhead, and modest recurring testing.
no incidents limited research access routine maintenance
🚨 Minor Incident $366K/yr
5.0% probability / year +$75K vs baseline
Unauthorized or accidental unfolding event requiring short-term emergency response, shoring, localized repairs, and temporary heavy-lift rental.
unauthorized unfolding localized structural overload small-scale emergency relocation
🚨 Major Breach $991K/yr
0.5% probability / year +$700K vs baseline
Large-scale unfolding or malicious exploitation leading to very high mass requiring heavy storage relocation, major structural repairs, and large contingency expenditures.
extensive unauthorized unfolding structural failure or area evacuation requirement to move to heavy-storage bunker
👥 Personnel 4 total
Role Count Notes
Research Scientist 1 [#9] Senior researcher (0.25–1.0 FTE typical; listed as policy holder or primary investigator).
Research Technician / Lab Tech 1 [#9] Lab technician (approx. 0.5 FTE allocated; single technician supports handling and imaging).
Administrative Staff 1 [#9] Clerical/support for handling requests, imaging workflow and recordkeeping (part-time allocation represented as one headcount).
Security Officer / MTF Agent 1 [#10, #9] Portion of guard time and access-control oversight allocated to SCP-1997 (shared duty but represented as one assigned officer for budgeting).
📋 Confidence Notes
Estimates use analyst ranges from containment notes and standard archival/engineering pricing; many items (robotic rigs, heavy-storage, incident severity) have wide ranges producing moderate confidence. Baseline recurring costs are better defined than catastrophic one-time contingencies.
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