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SCP-2398 Safe ~ medium confidence
SCP-2398
Expected annual
$876K
One-time setup
$1.8M
Annual recurring
$777K
Personnel
5
One-time setup costs are dominated by a blast-rated test chamber, possible BSL-3 retrofit, and a remote swinging apparatus; recurring costs are driven by research staff salaries, legal/cover-story retainer, and per-test remediation and monitoring.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $1.8M
Worst Case Contingency $1.0M
[#29] Large one-time contingency reserve for worst-case scenarios (site lockdown, mass-casualty response) (conservative mid/high estimate).
Facilities $438K
[#6, #11, #27] Reinforced blast-rated test chamber construction and structural work (chamber), potential BSL-3 retrofit/construct costs if site lacks BSL-3, and electrical/power upgrades/UPS installation (midpoint estimates summed).
Equipment $199K
[#1, #2, #5, #8, #17, #18, #19, #22, #23] High-security containment locker purchase & installation, locker alarm/integration, remote swinging apparatus (robotic arm/pneumatic rig), initial PPE for staff, secure evidence storage hardware, small replacement/replica procurement, secure documentation servers/backups, initial SOP development, and a compliant transport case (midpoint estimates summed).
Contingency Reserve $100K
[#24] One-time reserved fund for small-claims contingency / victim compensation (initial reserve, midpoint).
Initial Research And Lab Setup $64K
[#7, #15] High-speed imaging and sensor suite plus dummy/analog targets and materials testing setup (initial instrumentation and test-target purchases).
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $777K/yr
Staff Wages $548K/yr
[#3, #12, #30] Research staff salaries (2 scientists + technicians with benefits), incremental/shared security monitoring costs (baseline incremental access-control monitoring/overtime), and pro-rated site administrative/overhead allocation (midpoint estimates summed).
Research And Monitoring $95K/yr
[#9, #10, #13, #14, #25, #26] Per-test hazardous remediation (HAZMAT cleanup), hazardous waste disposal, pathology/autopsy/forensics, animal husbandry recurring costs, air/contamination monitoring and periodic external safety audits (annualized assuming occasional live tests).
Cover Story And Legal $50K/yr
[#20] Annual baseline legal/PR/cover-story retainer and rapid-response budgeting (lower-end baseline retained).
Facilities Maintenance $25K/yr
[#6, #11, #27] Annual maintenance and minor repairs for test chamber/blast doors, BSL-3 operational costs (if used), and UPS/power system maintenance (midpoint estimates).
Supplies And Consumables $15K/yr
[#8, #15, #28, #18] PPE consumables/replacements, replacement/consumable targets, miscellaneous lab consumables (absorbents, disinfectants, batteries), and occasional replica/test-item replacements (annualized midpoint).
Incident Response And Medical Standby $10K/yr
[#21] On-call emergency medical/incident response retainer and per-call costs averaged annually (baseline retainer).
Contingency Replenish $10K/yr
[#24] Annual replenishment for contingency/victim-compensation reserve to maintain target level (small annual contribution).
Instrumentation Maintenance $8K/yr
[#16] Calibration and annual maintenance/calibration of cameras, sensors, robotic arm and chamber safety systems (midpoint).
Evidence Storage Maintenance $6K/yr
[#17] Temperature-control, freezer maintenance, chain-of-custody system upkeep and small sample storage costs (annualized midpoint).
Training And Sops $5K/yr
[#22] Annual refresher training, SOP updates and periodic drills (lower-end recurring cost).
Data Storage And Backup $3K/yr
[#19] Secure server maintenance, encrypted backups and periodic storage upgrades (annualized midpoint).
Logistics And Transport $2K/yr
[#23] Per-transfer transport costs (secure transfers/escort) averaged annually; initial armored-transport acquisition treated as one-time if purchased.
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $777K/yr
78.0% probability / year
Normal operational year using existing site resources and modest testing cadence; no major incidents or policy changes.
routine_testing no_major_incident
🚨 Minor Incident $977K/yr
10.0% probability / year +$200K vs baseline
A contained laboratory accident or single-test failure requiring chamber repair, HAZMAT remediation, pathology and minor legal action.
robotic_malfunction single_test_chamber_damage
🚨 Major Breach $2.8M/yr
2.0% probability / year +$2.0M vs baseline
Severe multi-casualty incident and destruction of test infrastructure requiring extended remediation, legal exposure, replacement facilities and large contingency payouts.
test_chamber_destruction multiple_casualties
🚨 Dedicated Security $1.2M/yr
10.0% probability / year +$395K vs baseline
Policy change requiring full-time dedicated security guards assigned to SCP-2398 (6 guards, 24/7 coverage) rather than shared incremental monitoring.
policy_change increased_operational_risk
👥 Personnel 5 total
Role Count Notes
Research Scientist 2 Lead investigators running experiments and analysis (maps to research salaries in staff_wages [#12]).
Lab Technician 1 Technical support for tests, instrumentation and sample handling (maps to research salaries [#12]).
Security Officer / MTF Agent 1 Shared-duty security monitoring and escorting for tests (represents baseline incremental security coverage [#3]; dedicated staffing option is modeled in scenarios [#4]).
Administrative Staff 1 Program administration, scheduling, and paperwork support (pro-rated site administrative allocation [#30]).
📋 Confidence Notes
Mid-range confidence: many line items are range estimates and per-incident costs are highly variable. Personnel and instrumentation costs are better constrained; incident and contingency figures are more uncertain.
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