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SCP-3658 Euclid ~ medium confidence
SCP-3658
Expected annual
$11.5M
One-time setup
$616.9M
Annual recurring
$9.5M
Personnel
45
One-time capital and contingency reserves dominate costs (notably superconducting magnet/cryogenics, secure RF-shielded vault, and space-retrieval reserve). Recurring costs are driven by specialized staff wages, continuous monitoring/array operations, maintenance contracts, and contingency reserves.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $616.9M
Space Retrieval Reserve $550.0M
[#28] High-risk, worst-case reserved contingency for kinetic/planetary retrieval or dedicated space mission escalation (placeholder for mission costs).
Retrieval Contingency Reserve $50.0M
[#15] Reserve fund for remote retrieval/search contingency agreements, targeted observations and small-sat rapid launches; recommended reserve.
Initial Research And Lab Setup $4.6M
[#3, #4, #5, #9, #10] Penning trap system (magnet, trap, control), initial UHV/cryogenic infrastructure, continuous measurement apparatus (SQUIDs/low-noise detection), DAQ/software initial development and hardened infrastructure, and high-capacity storage/compute procurement.
Facilities $3.8M
[#1] Dedicated reinforced containment vault construction with blast-rated doors, biometric access, EM/RF screening, segregated HVAC and SCIF-level data/signal security.
Radio Array Build $3.5M
[#11] Build a modest dedicated radio monitoring array to track and triangulate SCP-3658 transmissions (alternative to paying for telescope time).
Coverup Initial $1.0M
[#20] Initial covert coordination, indemnities and observatory coordination to suppress/publicly manage detections.
Insurance Reserve $1.0M
[#22] Initial insurance/reserve fund for site, equipment, and whistleblower/liability contingencies.
Spares Inventory Initial $600K
[#16] Initial inventory of critical spares (magnets, power supplies, pumps) to cover long lead-times.
Decommissioning Reserved $550K
[#26] Reserved funds for end-of-life teardown: magnet disposal, cryogen handling, secure data purge.
Legal Initial $500K
[#19] Initial legal retainer and permitting/co-ordination costs for frequency allocations, export controls, and classified coordination.
Data Security Initial $500K
[#21] Air-gapped secure IT setup, memetic-safety protocols implementation, and staff training initial costs.
Rf Em Shielding $475K
[#6] Multi-layer Faraday cage/anechoic lining, penetration filtering, active leak monitoring installation.
Power Backup Install $250K
[#7] UPS and on-site generator installation, transfer switchgear, and initial installation work.
Environmental Sensors Initial $125K
[#8] Install temperature, vibration, EM, radiation sensors, access logging and integration into site control.
Glass Capsule Spares $70K
[#2] Initial stock of precision glass/quartz capsules (3–5 spares at ~$5k–$25k each).
Equipment $0
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🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $9.5M/yr
Staff Wages $5.2M/yr
[#12, #13, #14, #29] Salaries + benefits and overhead for signal analysis/cryptanalysis team (6–12 FTEs), on-site trap physicists/technicians/engineers, security personnel and rapid-reaction team, and program administration.
Contingency Reserve $1.2M/yr
[#30] Annual R&D/unexpected purchases reserve (10–30% of operational budget estimate).
Cover Story And Legal $700K/yr
[#19, #20, #27] Ongoing legal support, permits liaison, observatory relations, and public/academic liaison funding to sustain cover narratives and data access.
Radio Array Operations $600K/yr
[#11] Operations/staffing/maintenance for a dedicated monitoring array (alternatively recurring telescope time costs if used ad-hoc).
Insurance And Liability $275K/yr
[#22] Annual insurance and liability premiums and indemnities.
Maintenance Contracts $175K/yr
[#18] Annual service contracts for superconducting magnet, cryocooler, vacuum pumps and calibration services.
Facilities Maintenance $150K/yr
[#1, #6, #8] Vault, RF shielding validation, HVAC and environmental systems maintenance and periodic validation.
Data Security Ops $150K/yr
[#21] Ongoing memetic-safety audits, secure analysis operations, and IT maintenance for air-gapped systems.
Medical Monitoring $150K/yr
[#23] Psychological screening, medical monitoring, staff rotation and counseling programs.
Storage Maintenance $150K/yr
[#10] Annual storage, backup, power and compute-cycle maintenance for petabyte-class telemetry archives.
Training And Drills $115K/yr
[#25] SOP development, contingency drills, cross-training and containment testing.
Logistics And Transport $100K/yr
[#24] Routine secure transport/couriering budget for moving capsule/equipment and chain-of-custody operations.
Retrieval Agreement Maintenance $100K/yr
[#15] Ongoing maintenance of contingency agreements with agencies, targeted observation tasking funds.
Supplies And Consumables $75K/yr
[#17] Consumables including cryogens, vacuum oils, filters, cables and other routine consumables.
Uhv Cryogenics Maintenance $60K/yr
[#4] Annual maintenance, cryocooler service, vacuum consumables and cold-head servicing for UHV/cryogenic infrastructure.
Measurement Maintenance $60K/yr
[#5] Calibration, maintenance and low-noise amplifier/SQUID servicing for continuous measurement apparatus.
Power Fuel Maintenance $60K/yr
[#7] Fuel contracts, generator maintenance and UPS service contracts.
Spares Replenishment $60K/yr
[#16] Annual replenishment budget for critical spares inventory.
Glass Capsule Replacement $30K/yr
[#2] Ongoing replacement/spare procurement for precision glass capsules (1–2 replacements/yr expected).
Rf Validation Maintenance $18K/yr
[#6] Periodic validation, anechoic chamber upkeep and RF leak testing.
Research And Monitoring $0/yr
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Public Science Liaison $0/yr
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⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $9.5M/yr
84.5% probability / year
Uneventful year with normal operations, monitoring, maintenance, and staff payroll.
no equipment failure no unexpected disappearance routine monitoring only
🚨 Minor Incident $13.0M/yr
15.0% probability / year +$3.5M vs baseline
Localized equipment failure or critical component replacement (e.g., magnet/power supply/pump) requiring emergency procurement and expedited repairs.
superconducting magnet failure major vacuum or cryo failure critical electronics destruction
🚨 Space Retrieval Escalation $309.5M/yr
0.5% probability / year +$300.0M vs baseline
Catastrophic escalation requiring an urgent dedicated space mission / large-scale retrieval/intercept within the inner solar system.
SCP-3658-1 disappearance and reappearance out of monitoring range decision to perform kinetic/planetary retrieval failure of remote observation to localize
👥 Personnel 45 total
Role Count Notes
Research Scientist / Physicist 4 [#13] Senior trap/particle physicists to run experiments and interpret results.
Technician (Cryo / RF / Electronics) 6 [#13] Cryogenic technicians, RF engineers, and electronics techs for day-to-day operations.
Software Engineer / Data Analyst / Cryptographer 8 [#12] Signal analysis, computational linguistics, cryptanalysis, and DAQ/software support.
Security Officer / MTF Agent 16 [#14] 24/7 armed guards, rotation and rapid-reaction elements for site security.
Site Director / Executive Staff / Administrative 3 [#29] Program managers, procurement, compliance and administrative staff.
Engineer / Maintenance 3 [#7, #18] Facilities engineers for power, HVAC, UPS/generator and maintenance coordination.
Rapid-Reaction Team (RRT) 4 [#14] On-call small intervention team for urgent physical interventions or secure transport events.
Medical Officer 1 [#23] Medical/psychological monitoring and staff health oversight.
📋 Confidence Notes
Analyst notes provide detailed component-level ranges enabling order-of-magnitude estimates; major uncertainties remain around low-probability high-cost items (space retrieval, legal/cover-up extremes) and operational choices (dedicated array vs. telescope time), so confidence is medium.
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