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SCP-3174 Safe ~ medium confidence
SCP-3174
Expected annual
$348K
One-time setup
$362K
Annual recurring
$340K
Personnel
4
Estimated one-time setup costs are moderate (~$361,500) for a sealed darkroom, monitoring, power, and research setup; recurring annual costs are substantial (~$339,500/yr) driven mainly by security staffing, site overhead, and readiness/reserve allocations.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $362K
Initial Research And Lab Setup $108K
[#9, #16, #17] Audio/linguistic instrumentation & licenses ($7,000), exploratory child-proxy R&D ($100,000), and archival/conservation starter supplies ($1,000).
Incident Contingency Reserve $100K
[#23] One-time contingency reserve for major staff-injury litigation or large-scale incident (midpoint of $50k–$200k).
Equipment $52K
[#3, #4, #5, #11, #14, #18] Secure locker & locking hardware ($4,500), IR/thermal monitoring suite & installation ($6,500), UPS & generator/integration ($21,000), capture/restraint gear ($12,500), initial secure-transport kit ($3,500), and server/install ($3,500).
Legal Cover Reserve $50K
[#13] One-time reserve for legal/cover-up and immediate amnestic/compensation needs (chosen midpoint of $25k–$150k).
Facilities $40K
[#1, #2] Sealed darkroom construction ($30,000 chosen midpoint of $15k–$50k) and HVAC/air-quality one-time installation ($10,000 estimated).
Policy Development And Legal Review $12K
[#7] One-time policy drafting and legal review to implement "no researchers with children" and related HR safeguards (midpoint estimate).
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $340K/yr
Staff Wages $170K/yr
[#6, #8] Security staffing 3 guards at ~$45,000/yr ($135,000) plus part-time assigned researcher (~$35,000/yr, represents 0.25–0.5 FTE).
Site Overhead Allocation $50K/yr
[#21] Allocated share of site fixed costs and classified-facility premium (~$50,000/yr).
Cover Story And Legal $38K/yr
[#7, #13, #24, #25] Annual compliance monitoring ($3,000), legal/cover readiness allocation ($20,000/yr), ethics/IRB reviews ($5,000/yr), and PR/front-organization maintenance ($10,000/yr).
Insurance And Liability Reserve $30K/yr
[#19, #23] Internal insurance/reserve allocation ($20,000/yr) plus amortized portion of large contingency reserve ($10,000/yr).
Medical And Occupational Health $20K/yr
[#10, #20] Baseline medical readiness ($5,000/yr), counseling budget ($10,000/yr), and psychological screening/support ($5,000/yr).
Research And Monitoring $18K/yr
[#4, #9, #15, #18] Monitoring equipment maintenance/storage ($1,000), ongoing consulting/linguistic analysis ($10,000/yr), forensic/textile analyses budget ($5,000/yr), and data storage/backups ($1,500/yr).
Training And Drills $6K/yr
[#12] Periodic tabletop and live drills, contractor fees and training materials (~$6,000/yr).
Facilities Maintenance $4K/yr
[#2, #5] HVAC/hepa/humidity control maintenance and energy ($2,000/yr) plus backup-generator/UPS maintenance ($1,500/yr).
Supplies And Consumables $2K/yr
[#17, #22] Archival/conservation consumables and routine maintenance supplies (filters, seals, PPE) estimated ~$2,500/yr.
Logistics And Transport $2K/yr
[#14] On-demand secure transport and per-transfer costs allocation (~$2,000/yr for occasional moves).
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $340K/yr
93.0% probability / year
Normal year with no major incidents: routine monitoring, staffing, training, and small consumables/maintenance.
no incident routine operations
🚨 Minor Incident $400K/yr
5.0% probability / year +$60K vs baseline
Localized containment breach or small staff injury requiring medical treatment, forensic analysis, limited legal/PR response, and short-term increased monitoring.
minor containment breach single staff injury limited civilian exposure
🚨 Major Incident $640K/yr
2.0% probability / year +$300K vs baseline
Serious breach or public exposure with multiple serious injuries, extended legal action, large amnestic/compensation costs, and temporary operational shutdown/repairs.
major breach multiple hospitalizations public/legal exposure
👥 Personnel 4 total
Role Count Notes
Security Officer / MTF Agent 3 [#6] Three full-time guards to cover 24/7 shifts, clearance training; salary costs included in staff_wages.
Research Scientist 1 [#8] One assigned researcher (0.25–0.5 FTE) for oversight, analysis, and coordination; represented as a single headcount with partial FTE salary in staff_wages.
📋 Confidence Notes
Line items and ranges are well-documented in analyst notes, so core containment and staffing costs are reasonably certain; significant uncertainty remains around probability and scale of rare incidents and speculative R&D (child-proxy), which drives medium confidence.
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