SCP-2980 Safe ~ medium confidence
SCP-2980
Expected annual
$469K
One-time setup
$119K
Annual recurring
$459K
Personnel
6
One-time setup ~ $119k covering chamber upgrades, recording and medical equipment; main recurring costs are personnel, a modest research program, contingency reserves, and per-test operational costs totaling ~$459k/year.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $119K
Initial Research And Lab Setup $42K
[#7] Medical monitoring equipment and sleep-lab capability (portable polysomnography, vitals monitors, emergency/resuscitation equipment) one-time purchase.
Facilities $32K
[#4, #17] Dedicated testing chamber upgrades (lighting control/blackout, independent circuits, one-way observation) and small physical containment improvements/adaptations to a small chamber.
Equipment $21K
[#2, #3, #5, #12] Tamper-proof keyed outlet cover/custom dummy socket, initial tamper-evident seals/labeling purchase, multi-angle HD+IR camera/audio/NAS/sensors one-time purchase, and custom lockable transport case.
Sop Training And Legal Initial $14K
[#11] One-time SOP drafting, legal review, ethics board coordination, and initial training program development.
Background Checks Initial $4K
[#15] Initial background checks / personnel clearance for ~10 people (initial investigations).
Electrical Diagnostics Initial $3K
[#16] Initial electrical diagnostics to assess EM/power-draw behavior and baseline interference testing.
Storage Allocation And Registration $2K
[#1] Secure storage allocation: item locker setup, registration, badge access provisioning and initial site accounting allocation.
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $459K/yr
Staff Wages $150K/yr
[#8] Annual salary burden for oversight and scheduled testing staff (research lead(s), technician, admin support, baseline security allocations).
Research And Monitoring $139K/yr
[#6, #7, #10, #20, #21, #22] Secure data storage/archival, recurring medical equipment calibration/maintenance, medical follow-up/cohort monitoring, baseline small research program budget (0.5–1.0 FTE level + materials), archival/classification maintenance, and periodic functional verification.
Emergency Response Reserve $50K/yr
[#13] Annual reserve for emergency overtime, repairs, emergency medical care, and immediate incident response (recommended hold fund).
Per Test Operational Costs $44K/yr
[#8, #9] Per-test staffing and subject recruitment/compensation aggregated for baseline ~10 tests/yr (staff hourly pro rata, technician/medic/security overtime, subject screening and compensation).
Cover Story And Legal $32K/yr
[#11, #14] Annual legal retainer/training refreshers and incident PR/legal cover contingency retainer for public exposure/leak responses.
Containment Scaling Reserve $20K/yr
[#24] Annual contingency planning/reserve to allow rapid scale-up of containment (additional lockers, chambers, oversight) if proliferation occurs.
Insurance And Liability $15K/yr
[#23] Internal insurance / liability allocation or premium adjustments to cover unusual liability exposure.
Facilities Maintenance $5K/yr
[#1, #5, #16] Locker/space accounting and maintenance, AV/recording system maintenance, and recurring electrical monitoring/maintenance.
Supplies And Consumables $2K/yr
[#18] Consumables per-test (PPE, disposable electrode pads, wipes, batteries) — baseline assumed ~10 tests/yr.
Background Checks Recurring $1K/yr
[#15] Periodic personnel reinvestigation / rechecks for access list (~10 people).
Logistics And Transport $500/yr
[#12] Minor recurring logistics/chain-of-custody administration for occasional transfers.
Utilities Electricity $500/yr
[#19] Incremental electricity and facility utilities for recording, lighting control, and backups.
Tamper Seals Recurring $100/yr
[#3] Recurring purchase/replacement of tamper-evident seals and labels.
Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $459K/yr
90.0% probability / year
Normal uneventful year with scheduled testing (~10 tests), standard maintenance, and modest research activity.
scheduled_tests routine_maintenance small_research_tasks
🚨 Minor Incident $484K/yr
6.0% probability / year +$25K vs baseline
Small accidental exposure or accidental plugging by authorized personnel resulting in limited emergency response, minor repairs, and PR/legal actions.
accidental_plugging tamper_seal_breach limited_footage_leak
🚨 Major Breach $559K/yr
1.0% probability / year +$100K vs baseline
Loss/theft or public plugging leading to civilian exposure, significant legal/PR response, extended emergency care, and replacement equipment/containment actions.
civilian_exposure public_leak equipment_damage
🚨 Research Scale Up $709K/yr
3.0% probability / year +$250K vs baseline
Decision to mount a sustained, larger-scale research program (additional FTEs, experiments, equipment purchases).
funded_research_program expanded_experiments hiring_additional_fte
👥 Personnel 6 total
Role Count Notes
Research Scientist 1 [#8] Lead researcher responsible for protocols, testing oversight; included in staff_wages.
Technician 1 [#8] Lab/AV/experimental technician for test setup and data collection; included in staff_wages.
Medical Officer 1 [#8, #7] Medic/nurse responsible for subject safety during tests; included in staff_wages.
Security Officer / MTF Agent 2 [#8] Two security personnel to control room entry and prevent unauthorized access during tests; included in staff_wages.
Administrative Staff 1 [#1, #11, #12] Administrative/clerical support for records, chain-of-custody, training logistics and site accounting; included in staff_wages.
📋 Confidence Notes
Analyst notes provide detailed line items and ranges for nearly every cost, enabling a reasoned estimate, but several items (incident probabilities, research scope, and contingency sizing) retain uncertainty, so confidence is medium.
← SCP-2979 ↑ All SCPs SCP-2981 →