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SCP-315 Safe ✓ high confidence
SCP-315
Expected annual
$553K
One-time setup
$90K
Annual recurring
$551K
Personnel
5.7
First-year (startup) costs are modest: approximately $90k one-time for equipment/setup and contingencies, with annual operating costs driven primarily by personnel and overhead (~$551k/yr). Main cost drivers are staff wages (research, AV, security, medical), administrative overhead, and ongoing research/archival operations.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $90K
Missing Disc Recovery $50K
[#17] Contingent budget for recovering missing discs (range-based; moderate recovery budget chosen here as planning reserve).
Initial Research And Lab Setup $17K
[#8, #14] Initial digitization/transcription effort (one-time labor to transcribe existing footage) and initial SOP development/training costs (one-time portion).
Equipment $16K
[#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7] Evidence locker, archival enclosure, environmental sensors, air-gapped playback workstation + DVD players, UPS, digital capture hardware, and primary on-premise archival storage hardware (midpoint estimates combined).
Cover Story Setup $6K
[#16] One-time legal/cover-story establishment, initial PR/legal paperwork and NDA setup.
Secure Destruction $600
[#22] Contingent secure destruction / sterilization costs if policy requires disposal of discs.
Facilities $0
[] No major construction or structural work required; object stored in existing archival space.
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $551K/yr
Staff Wages $380K/yr
[#9, #10, #11, #12] Salaries for 2 researchers (~$90k each), AV/lab technician (~$60k), 2 security officers (~$45k each), and part-time psychologist/medical support (~$30k); sums used to compute personnel overhead.
Administrative Overhead $95K/yr
[#23] Pro-rated facility, HR, finance, and overhead charged as percentage of personnel costs (approx. 25% used here).
Research And Monitoring $28K/yr
[#8, #15] Ongoing transcription for new sessions (annual) and controlled research/experimentation budget (annual program).
Miscellaneous $15K/yr
[#25] Unplanned research consults, specialized testing, and other unexpected research costs.
Cover Story And Legal $10K/yr
[#16] Ongoing legal, PR, and secrecy maintenance (NDAs, cover-story upkeep, handling external inquiries).
Breach Response $10K/yr
[#19] Annual contingency budget for amnestic administration, memetic analysis, and emergency response in case of small unauthorized exposures.
Insurance $3K/yr
[#20] Institutional insurance allocations and compliance/audit fees.
Facilities Maintenance $2K/yr
[#3, #7] Sensor maintenance/calibration, microclimate unit electricity/maintenance, and archival cabinet maintenance/rotation.
Logistics And Transport $2K/yr
[#18] Secure transport/courier budget for occasional moves between facilities or collaborations.
Archival Refresh $2K/yr
[#21] Averaged annualized cost for periodic migration/refresh and integrity verification (every 3–5 years averaged).
Incident Logging $1K/yr
[#24] CCTV retention, access logs, and secure records storage/administration.
Supplies And Consumables $1K/yr
[#13] Gloves, cleaning fluids, archival sleeves, replacement spindles/parts, labels and small tools.
Training And Certification $1K/yr
[#14] Annual refresher training and protocol recertification.
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $551K/yr
92.5% probability / year
Routine year with no major incidents; scheduled research, maintenance, and archival activities only.
routine operations scheduled research and maintenance
🚨 Minor Incident $576K/yr
5.0% probability / year +$25K vs baseline
Small unauthorized viewing or localized leak requiring targeted amnestic treatment and memetic analysis.
unauthorized viewing small-scale containment breach limited amnestic administration
🚨 Missing Disc Recovery $581K/yr
2.0% probability / year +$30K vs baseline
Decision/operation to covertly recover one or more of the five known missing discs from external holders.
active recovery effort covert retrieval required
🚨 Major Breach $701K/yr
0.5% probability / year +$150K vs baseline
Widespread exposure or high-profile leak requiring mass amnestic operations, legal/PR response, and extended investigations.
widespread exposure legal/political fallout large-scale amnestic campaign
👥 Personnel 5.7 total
Role Count Notes
Research Scientist 2 [#9] Two full-time research scientists to conduct viewing sessions and analysis (~$90k each).
AV / Lab Technician 1 [#10] One full-time AV/lab technician to operate capture rigs and maintain playback equipment (~$60k).
Security Officer / MTF Agent 2 [#11] Two security officers (rotating shifts) to control access and monitor playback sessions (~$45k each).
Psychologist / Medical Officer 0.5 [#12] Part-time psychologist/occupational health support for staff monitoring and counseling (~$30k pro-rated).
Administrative Staff 0.2 [#23] Pro-rated administrative support for HR/finance/recordkeeping (~$20k pro-rated).
📋 Confidence Notes
Analyst notes provide explicit line-item ranges for equipment, staffing, and recurring needs; object is low-engineering (Safe) and costs are dominated by personnel and archival operations, so estimates are well-constrained though contingent recovery/destruction items remain uncertain.
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