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SCP-2598 Safe ~ medium confidence
SCP-2598
Expected annual
$35K
One-time setup
$50K
Annual recurring
$34K
Personnel
0.15
One-time setup (~$50k) driven by containment retrofit, monitoring hardware, and initial research/training; recurring annual costs are modest (~$33.6k/year) driven by part-time entomology wages, research/monitoring, supplies, and administrative overhead.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $50K
Initial Research And Lab Setup $19K
[#11, #12] Research project startup and initial prototype "moth helmet" fabrication/testing costs (one-time project/prototyping startup).
Facilities $16K
[#1] Containment cell construction/retrofit estimated midpoint of $8k–$25k.
Equipment $10K
[#2, #3, #9, #13, #15] Environmental control/hardware, initial light fixture purchase, recording hardware, small entomology equipment, and camera install (one-time portions).
Personnel Training Development $3K
[#7] Development of 20-hour American Morse Code authorized-interviewer training package (one-time development/integration).
Contingency Reserve $1K
[#19] Initial small contingency/reserve for incident response, capture equipment, or minor repairs.
Decommissioning And Necropsy $600
[#21] End-of-life euthanasia/necropsy/disposal one-time cost (estimated midpoint).
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $34K/yr
Staff Wages $14K/yr
[#6, #10, #17] 0.1 FTE entomologist allocation (~$6k–$9k midpoint $7.5k) plus manual transcription staff time (~$3k/yr) and opportunity-cost staff time diverted by nuisance interviews (~$3k/yr).
Research And Monitoring $11K/yr
[#11, #9, #12] Ongoing behavioral research budget (midpoint), automated-recording/software maintenance, and iterative prototyping/maintenance costs.
Cover Story And Legal $3K/yr
[#18] Annual minimal cover-story / legal / permit contingencies (midpoint of $500–$5k).
Administrative Overhead $2K/yr
[#16] Administrative time for logs, containment reviews, paperwork and incident reporting (midpoint $1k–$3k/yr).
Supplies And Consumables $2K/yr
[#5, #13, #3, #14, #15] Food/nectar supplies, small equipment consumables/replacements, light-bulb replacement, containment cleaning/consumables, and data storage (recurring portions).
Personnel Training Per Trainee $750/yr
[#8] Per-new-trainee recurring training cost (assumes ~1 new authorized interviewer/year at midpoint $300–$1,200).
It And Access Control $650/yr
[#22] IT/security access controls and clearance administration (midpoint $300–$1k/yr).
Insurance And Medical $600/yr
[#20] Small annual allocation for liability, medical checks, or allergy claims (midpoint $200–$1k).
Contingency Replenish $500/yr
[#19] Annual replenishment budget for contingency/reserve if used.
Facilities Maintenance $225/yr
[#4] Energy consumption for light and small HVAC load (estimated midpoint ~$225/yr).
Logistics And Transport $0/yr
[]
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $34K/yr
90.0% probability / year
Normal uneventful year with routine maintenance, consumables, part-time entomology support, training of occasional new interviewer, and modest research activity.
routine_care scheduled_research occasional_new_trainee
🚨 Minor Incident $39K/yr
2.0% probability / year +$5K vs baseline
Small containment incident or escape requiring recovery, overtime, and minor repairs to containment fixtures.
localized_escape containment_repair emergency_capture
🚨 Research Scale Up $49K/yr
8.0% probability / year +$15K vs baseline
Year with expanded research effort: hiring temporary staff, buying additional equipment, increased prototyping and storage/analysis costs.
extended_experimental_program prototyping_campaign automated_decoding_adoption
👥 Personnel 0.15 total
Role Count Notes
Entomologist / Animal Care Tech (FTE allocation) 0.1 [#6] 0.1 FTE entomologist allocation for periodic checkups and oversight (cost reflected in staff_wages).
Research Scientist / Temporary RA (part-time) 0.05 [#10, #17] Part-time research/transcription and opportunity-cost hours (manual decoding/transcribing and time lost to nuisance interviews) aggregated as ~100 hrs/yr (~0.05 FTE), cost reflected in staff_wages.
📋 Confidence Notes
Many line items are small and well-described (food, light, containment); research and incident probabilities/scale-up assumptions introduce uncertainty. Estimates use midpoints where ranges were provided and a modest assumption about new-trainee rate.
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