SCP-289 — SCP-289 | Cost Breakdown

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SCP-289 Safe ~ medium confidence

SCP-289

Expected annual

$1.1M

One-time setup

$944K

Annual recurring

$1.1M

Personnel

One-time setup costs are approximately $944k driven primarily by construction of two reinforced vaults and a robust remote transfer rig; annual recurring costs are about $1.06M/yr dominated by personnel, research, contingency, and medical/security readiness.

🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $944K

Facilities $470K

[#1] Construction of two identical 5m x 5m x 5m reinforced containment vaults, site integration (power, comms), sealed doors, interlocks, pedestal mounting and basic blast/impact reinforcement.

Equipment $286K

[#2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #11, #17, #21] Precision platform/pedestal, redundant camera systems and installation, recording hardware, proximity/interlock hardware, remote handling/transfer rig (capital), specialized transfer fixtures, PPE kit, IT integration hardware, spare parts inventory.

Initial Research And Lab Setup $98K

[#8, #15] Environmental monitoring sensors/DAQ and mechanical testing instrumentation (force sensors, dynamometers, high-speed cameras, rigs) and DAQ/setup.

Decommissioning Reserve $55K

[#20] One-time reserve for decontamination/disposal planning or end-of-life transport/destruction contingencies.

Training And Sop Development $25K

[#10] Initial development of SOPs, training materials and clearance administration setup.

Emergency Equipment $10K

[#12] One-time emergency medical and rescue equipment (AEDs, trauma kits, rescue tools) purchase.

🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $1.1M/yr

Staff Wages $440K/yr

[#9] Annual payroll for 1x Level 3 project lead/researcher, 2x technicians, and 3x security/monitoring staff (shift coverage).

Research And Monitoring $175K/yr

[#14] Annual research budget for controlled testing of inertial amplification/decay curves, experiments, consumables and staff time.

Incident Contingency $112K/yr

[#13] Annual budget reserve for incident repairs, sensor replacement, and containment room repairs.

Logistics And Transport $100K/yr

[#24] Transportation contingency reserve for external lift or chartered airlift operations (helicopter/tether availability reserve).

Emergency Medical Recurring $75K/yr

[#12] On-call medics, drills, training and annual medical readiness costs.

Security Incremental $30K/yr

[#22] Incremental perimeter monitoring, additional patrols and checkpoint costs.

Audit And Compliance $25K/yr

[#18] Regular reviews, audits and documentation upkeep to enforce swap schedules, authorization procedures and SOP compliance.

Training And Clearance Renewals $20K/yr

[#10] Annual refresher training, clearance renewals and administrative overhead.

Cover Story And Legal $15K/yr

[#23] Annual legal/cover-story/public-affairs reserve for liaison, FOIA responses, or local authority interactions.

Manipulator Maintenance $15K/yr

[#6] Annual maintenance, calibration and certification for the remote handling/transfer rig.

It Monitoring And Security $11K/yr

[#17] Ongoing SIEM, monitoring, IT staff time and secure network segment maintenance.

Instrumentation Calibration $6K/yr

[#15] Calibration and maintenance for mechanical testing instrumentation and measurement rigs.

Spare Turnover $6K/yr

[#21] Turnover and replacement of spare modules (cameras, sensors, manipulator parts).

Archival $6K/yr

[#25] Long-term archival and legal retention costs for footage and research data.

Power And Hvac $5K/yr

[#16] Incremental power consumption and HVAC maintenance for vaults and recording equipment.

Environmental Maintenance $3K/yr

[#8] Calibration, replacement and data storage associated with environmental monitoring sensors/IMUs.

Ppe Replacement $3K/yr

[#11] Replacement and consumables for PPE and non-ferrous toolkits.

Supplies And Consumables $3K/yr

[#19] Consumables for monthly transfer operations (sacrificial pads, disposable fixtures, lubricants, cleaning).

Video Storage $3K/yr

[#4] Ongoing storage expansion, encrypted backups and archival rotation costs for continuous video recording.

Camera Maintenance $2K/yr

[#3] Maintenance, tamper checks and small repairs for vault camera systems.

Fixtures Replacement $1K/yr

[#7] Replacement/sterilization and small spare purchases for containment transport fixtures.

Interlock Maintenance $1K/yr

[#5] Maintenance/calibration of proximity/interlock sensors and automated exclusion-zone controls.

Facilities Maintenance $0/yr

[]

⚡ Cost Scenarios

📊 Baseline (baseline) $1.1M/yr

87.0% probability / year

Normal uneventful year with routine monthly transfers, scheduled research and no major incidents.

routine_monthly_transfer scheduled_research no_incidents

🚨 Minor Incident $1.1M/yr

10.0% probability / year +$25K vs baseline

Small containment/technical incident requiring sensor/camera replacement and minor repairs.

sensor_failure minor_damage during transfer

🚨 Major Incident $1.2M/yr

2.0% probability / year +$150K vs baseline

Significant containment or transfer accident causing medical treatment, major repairs and replacement of manipulator or vault components.

failed_transfer significant equipment damage hospitalization

🚨 Emergency Airlift $1.2M/yr

1.0% probability / year +$100K vs baseline

Offsite relocation or emergency requiring hired helicopter/tether lift or external heavy-lift asset.

offsite_move urgent_external_lift

👥 Personnel 6 total

Role	Count	Notes
Research Scientist / Project Lead (Level 3)	1	[#9] Senior Level 3 researcher responsible for approvals and oversight.
Technician	2	[#9] Two technicians for operations, monthly transfers, and equipment maintenance.
Security Officer / Remote Monitoring Staff	3	[#9] Three positions to provide 24/7 coverage (one per shift) or equivalent remote monitoring staff.

📋 Confidence Notes

Containment and operational requirements are well-described in analyst notes and the article, but many line items have wide cost ranges and contingency assumptions, producing moderate confidence in the dollar estimates.

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