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SCP-3139 Safe ~ medium confidence
SCP-3139
Expected annual
$194K
One-time setup
$123K
Annual recurring
$177K
Personnel
2
One-time setup costs (~$123k) are driven by research setup, digitization, licensing, and an optional single expedition; annual recurring costs (~$177k/yr) are dominated by staff wages and legal/cover-story retainer, with smaller ongoing monitoring, maintenance, and research license costs.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $123K
Initial Research And Lab Setup $53K
[#3, #12, #13, #14, #22] Archival sleeves/boxes and materials; initial forensic media analysis project; one-time facial-recognition / license purchases; IT secure directory/setup; specialized research hardware/software (small project).
Field Single Expedition $30K
[#17] Single reconnaissance / small expedition budget (remote sensing / field team) if undertaken as a one-off.
Equipment $10K
[#2, #4] CCTV/hardware (hardware & integration) and digitization / high-resolution capture hardware (professional VCRs, capture devices, cleaning tools).
Litigation Contingency Disbursements $10K
[#16] One-time contingency disbursements for cover-story, payments to contractors/broadcasters if required.
Public Relations One Time $10K
[#25] One-time PR/disinformation contingency funds for a targeted response to a leak or FOIA event.
Facilities $8K
[#1] Secure containment locker fabrication/upgrade, integration and installation.
Training Initial $2K
[#23] Initial procedural training for handlers and researchers.
Offsite Backups Initial $600
[#15] Initial encrypted offline copies / media for air-gapped backups.
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $177K/yr
Staff Wages $90K/yr
[#8, #9] Pro-rated staff wages: ~1 security officer assignment and ~1 part-time/full-time researcher (pro-rated to SCP-3139 workload).
Cover Story And Legal $30K/yr
[#16] Annual legal retainer and small ongoing cover-story/disinformation budget (retainer assumed mid-range).
Research And Monitoring $16K/yr
[#12, #13, #22, #14] Recurring costs for forensic/media-analysis software/licenses and in-house compute/cloud spend, facial-recognition subscriptions/archives access, and pro-rated IT/sysadmin time for audits and secure storage maintenance.
Incident Response Reserve $10K/yr
[#18] Reserve fund for unexpected incidents tied to testing (overtime, emergency repairs, external contractors).
Psychological Services $6K/yr
[#10] Pre/post-viewing mental-health screening and follow-up therapy budget (small ongoing testing workload).
Archival Cataloguing Labor $6K/yr
[#21] Labor to maintain containment file, addenda, transcripts, redaction, and records management (pro-rated).
Test Session Costs $5K/yr
[#7] Per-test operational overhead for screening room use, equipment amortization, cleanup, and room time (assumes modest number of tests/year).
Logistics And Transport $3K/yr
[#6] Secure transport and escorted transfers (assumes modest number of transfers per year; per-transfer labor/escort costs).
Tape Conservation Contingency $3K/yr
[#5] Annual contingency reserve for per-incident tape conservation/repair (expected occasional treatment costs).
Equipment Maintenance $2K/yr
[#20] Maintenance, calibration, and occasional repair/replacement for analog playback gear and monitors.
Archival Insurance $2K/yr
[#24] Internal administrative 'insurance' / asset valuation allocation for unique media artifact.
Cctv Monitoring $1K/yr
[#2] Ongoing monitoring/record retention overhead for CCTV/tamper-detection tied into site security.
Training Refreshers $1K/yr
[#23] Periodic refresher training for handlers and researchers.
Medical Monitoring $800/yr
[#11] Occupational health / annual checkups for personnel repeatedly allowed to view the tape (assumes small enrolled population).
Supplies And Consumables $700/yr
[#19] Gloves, evidence bags, cleaning kits, spare VHS belts, archival sleeves, stationery, and minor consumables.
Facilities Maintenance $600/yr
[#3] HVAC/energy allocation for climate-controlled archival storage (pro-rated) and minor locker upkeep.
Offsite Backups Refresh $500/yr
[#15] Periodic refresh, storage, and geographic maintenance for off-site air-gapped backups.
Field Investigation Program $0/yr
[#17] Recurring field program (set to 0 for baseline; activated under alternate scenarios if active investigation is pursued).
Public Relations Recurring $0/yr
[#25] Ongoing PR/disinformation program (baseline set to zero; ad-hoc spending handled from contingency).
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $177K/yr
75.0% probability / year
Normal year with no major incidents: routine access, archival care, periodic testing, and minimal research activity.
routine_viewings scheduled_maintenance standard_research_activities
🚨 Minor Incident $188K/yr
15.0% probability / year +$11K vs baseline
Isolated conservation/tape-restoration event plus one or two viewers requiring follow-up therapy and some overtime.
tape_deterioration viewer_psychological_follow_up
🚨 Field Investigation Active $327K/yr
8.0% probability / year +$150K vs baseline
Research decision to mount an active, sustained field program (satellite imagery, UAVs, multiple expeditions).
research_push_for_location satellite_imagery_and_field_teams
🚨 Major Breach $377K/yr
2.0% probability / year +$200K vs baseline
Public exposure / legal dispute requiring heavy legal, PR, and emergency containment response.
media_leak FOIA_or_ownership_claims
👥 Personnel 2 total
Role Count Notes
Security Officer / MTF Agent 1 [#8] One assigned guard (pro-rated assignment for access, transfers, and test supervision); salary included in staff_wages.
Research Scientist 1 [#9] One researcher (part-time/attachment or 1 FTE equivalent budgeted here); salary included in staff_wages.
📋 Confidence Notes
Line-item ranges were provided for most costs enabling mid-range estimates, but several items (field programs, litigation, per-incident conservation) are highly variable; therefore overall confidence is medium.
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