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SCP-2879 Safe ✓ high confidence
SCP-2879
Expected annual
$437K
One-time setup
$697K
Annual recurring
$433K
Personnel
2
Initial one-time costs are approximately $697,000, driven primarily by construction of the dedicated test residence, purchase/installation of a dedicated incinerator, and equipment/retrofits. Recurring annual costs are approximately $432,750, driven mainly by staff wages, per-package forensic/signature analysis, transport and legal/contingency retainer.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $697K
Facilities $505K
[#1, #10] Construction of dedicated test residence (site purchase/build, observation room, security hardening) plus one-time environmental/incineration permitting.
Equipment $119K
[#2, #3, #4, #8, #15, #18] Furnishings and specialized test-room fitout, Site-18 locker retrofits, CCTV/recording hardware, on-site incinerator purchase, evidence system setup, and VHS spares/repair parts.
Initial Research And Lab Setup $53K
[#13, #14] Evidence logging/photography kit and BSL-2/PPE upgrades / lab access upgrades.
Background Investigations And Clearances $20K
[#17] Initial background investigations and security clearances for assigned personnel (one-time costs).
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $433K/yr
Staff Wages $200K/yr
[#5, #6] Dedicated personnel: one full-time Level-3 research lead + technical support (0.5 FTE) and security guard (0.5 FTE) salary/benefits.
Research And Monitoring $98K/yr
[#11, #12, #24] Recurring forensic analysis per package, signature/authenticity verification, and episodic external expert consultations averaged annually.
Cover Story And Legal $30K/yr
[#21] Legal/cover-story and estate liaison retainer.
Incident Contingency Fund $25K/yr
[#22] Incident/contingency fund for medical response, decontamination, emergency contracting.
Logistics And Transport $24K/yr
[#6, #7] Secure transport on-call budget and per-trip armored/escorted transport (example: 25trips/year).
Facilities Maintenance $21K/yr
[#4, #10, #15, #16, #19, #20] CCTV/storage maintenance, environmental compliance/monitoring, evidence system maintenance/backups, monthly access-code/IT admin & keycard upkeep, utilities, property taxes and insurance.
It Security $10K/yr
[#25] IT security, DLP, air-gapping, audits and periodic penetration testing to prevent leaks.
Training And Audits $8K/yr
[#23] Annual training, SOP updates, and internal audits for handling and enforcement.
Hazardous Waste Contract $5K/yr
[#9] Alternative per-package hazardous-waste disposal contract (if Foundation elects not to purchase/incinerate on-site).
Background Reinvestigation Fees $5K/yr
[#17] Recurring periodic reinvestigation fees for personnel clearances.
Supplies And Consumables $5K/yr
[#13, #14, #18] Evidence consumables (bags/labels), PPE and BSL-2 consumables/maintenance, VHS tapes/cleaning supplies (annual).
Archiving And Long Term Storage $2K/yr
[#26] Archival storage and long-term retention of test logs (secure physical/digital archive costs).
Per Test Budget Projection $0/yr
[#27] Per-test (~$3,200/test) planning projection; these per-test costs are represented in the above per-package recurring line items (forensics, signature checks, transport, disposal, admin) and are set to 0 here to avoid double-counting.
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $433K/yr
94.5% probability / year
Normal uneventful year with standard testing cadence and no major incidents.
routine package testing no contamination or public exposure
🚨 Minor Incident $463K/yr
5.0% probability / year +$30K vs baseline
Minor contamination or medical incident requiring on-site response and limited cleanup/medical costs.
allergic reaction/limited contamination accelerated testing/legal consultation
🚨 Major Breach $933K/yr
0.5% probability / year +$500K vs baseline
Significant public exposure or containment failure requiring large-scale remediation, legal action, and media blackout operations.
public leak of autographed items widespread contamination or chain-of-custody breach
👥 Personnel 2 total
Role Count Notes
Research Scientist (Level-3) 1 [#5] Full-time Level-3 researcher to authorize tests and analyze packages (~$140,000/yr)
Research Technician / Lab Tech 0.5 [#5] Technical support / evidence custodian allocated fractionally (~0.5 FTE, ~$30,000/yr)
Security Officer / Guard 0.5 [#6] Site security allocation (0.5 FTE equivalent, ~$30,000/yr)
📋 Confidence Notes
Analyst notes provide line-item estimates for most capital and recurring costs and assumed test cadence; remaining uncertainty is mainly test frequency and rare high-cost breach outcomes.
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