SCP-291 — SCP-291 | Cost Breakdown

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SCP-291 Safe ~ medium confidence

SCP-291

Expected annual

$2.8M

One-time setup

$3.0M

Annual recurring

$2.8M

Personnel

Initial one-time capital and setup costs are approximately $2.95M driven by containment construction, shielding, and lab/instrument purchases; ongoing annual costs are about $2.32M/yr driven by staffing (security + scientific), maintenance, and R&D.

🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $3.0M

Facilities $1.1M

[#1] Construct/modify 10.5×30.2×15 m containment vault, reinforced flooring, vibration isolation, sealed access ports, blast-rated secondary doors, tamper-proofing; contractor and inspection costs included.

Equipment $839K

[#2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #25] EM shielding/grounding, HVAC hardware (negative-pressure, scrubbers), power-control infrastructure, manual override hardware, block-storage vault & inventory hardware, security gear, remote-sensing inventory, spare-parts stock, initial PPE, medical gear, incinerator/autoclave, secure servers, CCTV/install.

Initial Research And Lab Setup $512K

[#9, #22] Outsourced initial analyses ($100k) plus purchase of in-house lab instruments (selected suite) and -80°C/freezer setup ($400k + $12k).

Legal Contingency Fund $200K

[#16] Contingency/hush/settlement fund (lower-bound used); for higher-threat models this could be increased.

Anomalous Contingency Fund $200K

[#24] Reserve for unplanned containment of maliciously reassembled organisms (initial hold).

Pr Incident Fund $100K

[#27] One-time rapid-response PR/cover contingency for active incidents or front org setup.

🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $2.8M/yr

Staff Wages $1.4M/yr

[#7, #8, #13] Security personnel wages (~8 guards = $440k/yr), scientific staffing (PI, researchers, techs ~ $800k/yr), on-call medical staffing ~$120k/yr.

Research And Monitoring $365K/yr

[#9, #29, #6, #15] Ongoing contract analyses and instrument consumables (~$15k), long-term R&D program (~$300k), environmental monitoring of vault/blocks (~$2k), secure IT maintenance (~$12k) and data storage/monitoring.

Long Term Research And Development $300K/yr

[#29] Multiyear R&D grants, postdoc/grad support, and programmatic lab upgrades.

Cover Story And Legal $175K/yr

[#16, #27] Legal retainer/incident response (~$125k/yr) and PR/misinformation retainer (~$50k/yr).

Supplies And Consumables $105K/yr

[#10, #12, #23] Consumable sensors/replacements ($20k), PPE consumables ($7.5k), daily lab/sample consumables and small equipment (~$10k), plus expected replacement of destroyed/testing consumables and small gear included.

Insurance And Certifications $100K/yr

[#17] Specialized site insurance premiums, third-party audits/certifications.

Facilities Maintenance $72K/yr

[#1, #3, #11] Structural/contractor inspections, HVAC filter replacements and chemical scrubber servicing, preventive maintenance contracts and mechanical servicing ($60k/yr plus building inspection/servicing).

Ethical Oversight And Audits $70K/yr

[#19] Ethics board staffing, compliance officers, and annual audits (~$60k + $10k audits).

Anomalous Contingency Replenishment $50K/yr

[#24] Annual replenishment/reserve for unplanned long-term care/quarantine or special containment modifications.

Logistics And Transport $30K/yr

[#18] Secure transport for subjects, vehicles, escorts and related consumables (~$30k/yr typical cadence).

Energy And Utilities $30K/yr

[#26] Pro-rated site utilities (lighting, HVAC share, emergency power testing).

Remote Sensor Replacement $20K/yr

[#10] Budget for sacrificial sensors and replacement of destroyed internal devices.

Training And Drills $20K/yr

[#21] Regular containment, chemical hazard and emergency drills; external contractors and tabletop exercises.

Hvac And Scrubber Maintenance $12K/yr

[#3] HEPA and activated-carbon/chemical scrubber filter replacements and servicing.

It And Soc Monitoring $12K/yr

[#15] Secure server maintenance, SOC monitoring, backups and classified IT support.

Surveillance Storage And Maintenance $10K/yr

[#25] CCTV retention, storage costs and camera/system maintenance.

Records And Hr Admin $10K/yr

[#28] Administrative overhead for investigations, reassignments, HR and recordkeeping.

Medical Disposal And Permits $9K/yr

[#14] Waste disposal, hazardous transport permits, and incineration fees.

Psychological Services $9K/yr

[#20] Counseling, debriefs, and staff wellness services.

Ppe Replacement $8K/yr

[#12] Consumable chemical-resistant suits, gloves, decon supplies replacement.

Electromagnetic Shielding Maintenance $5K/yr

[#2] Certification and periodic maintenance/recertification of Faraday cage and grounding.

Emergency Override Inspection And Training $3K/yr

[#5] Annual inspections, mechanical egress checks and training for rescue apparatus.

Cold Storage Power $2K/yr

[#22] Power and maintenance for freezers and sample archiving.

Block Storage Monitoring $2K/yr

[#6] Environmental monitoring (temp/humidity) and tamper logs for blocks storage.

Power Fuel And Tests $1K/yr

[#4] Generator fuel and test run costs (UPS maintenance separate).

⚡ Cost Scenarios

📊 Baseline (baseline) $2.8M/yr

90.7% probability / year

Normal year with no major incidents; routine testing and maintenance only.

routine_testing scheduled_maintenance

🚨 Minor Incident $2.4M/yr

8.0% probability / year +$-407000 vs baseline

Localized equipment loss or small containment malfunction requiring repairs, sensor replacement and limited PR/legal response.

sensor_destruction minor_mechanical_failure lost_or_damaged_blocks

🚨 Major Breach $3.1M/yr

1.0% probability / year +$293K vs baseline

Significant containment failure or destructive activation requiring large-scale repairs, emergency staffing, legal exposure and extended downtime.

mechanical_breach multiple_system_failures major_equipment_loss

🚨 Political Exposure $3.3M/yr

0.3% probability / year +$543K vs baseline

Public exposure or regulatory action requiring large coverup, legal settlements, and relocation/compartmentalization efforts.

public_breach media_exposure regulatory_investigation

👥 Personnel 18 total

Role	Count	Notes
Security Officer / MTF Agent	8	[#7] Four 2-person teams to provide continuous coverage with rotations/leave.
Research Scientist	4	[#8] Senior PI (1), two researchers (2), materials scientist/chemist (1).
Lab Technician	2	[#8] Lab techs for sample handling and test support.
Medical Officer	1	[#13] On-call physician/paramedic coverage budgeted (FTE-equivalent represented here).
Engineer / Maintenance	1	[#11, #4] Dedicated maintenance/engineering support for conveyors, pumps, power and emergency systems; specialized contractors budgeted separately.
Administrative Staff	2	[#16, #19, #28] Compliance officers, ethics/admin support, HR oversight for investigations and records.

📋 Confidence Notes

Analyst notes are detailed with line-item ranges, but many items contain wide ranges and discretionary choices (e.g., in-house instrument purchases vs outsourcing, contingency fund sizing), so numerical estimates use midpoints and conservative assumptions.

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