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SCP-3972 Safe ~ medium confidence
SCP-3972
Expected annual
$3.2M
One-time setup
$3.1M
Annual recurring
$3.1M
Personnel
21
One-time capital/setup costs are approximately $3.10M (dominated by construction/retrofit of three secure archival and screening rooms plus contingency reserves). Annual recurring costs are approximately $3.12M/yr, dominated by wages for immune personnel, security, and research plus contingency replenishment and compliance.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $3.1M
Facilities $1.3M
[#1, #6, #18] Construction/retrofit of three secure archival vault rooms and screening rooms (access control, tamper sensors, climate control, soundproofing) plus UPS/generator installation for three sites.
Contingency Reserve $1.0M
[#22] Ring-fenced contingency / insurance reserve for large-scale containment failures, emergency relocation, settlements, and high-cost remediation.
Equipment $275K
[#2, #12, #17] Hardened, air-gapped playback hardware and certified monitors/projectors; initial enterprise DLP/endpoint hardening purchase; LTO drive + initial cartridges.
One Time Medical Reserve $250K
[#14] One-time reserve for a cluster exposure (treatment, quarantine, relocation, high-cost remediation).
Initial Research And Lab Setup $60K
[#3] Restoration/digitization of the 1920 Victor recording, creation of archival master and initial format migration/preservation copies.
Recruitment Immune Personnel $50K
[#7] Recruitment, medical screening, and onboarding costs to establish the initial Lambda-7 immune roster.
Initial Medical Screening $50K
[#8] Initial clinical tests and pool screening to verify Lambda-7 immunity prior to hiring and access.
It Deletion Dev $50K
[#11] Development/deployment of secure deletion workflows and forensic verification procedures for corporate systems.
Recruiting Initial $50K
[#23] Initial recruiting campaign and candidate screening to build immune candidate pool.
Media Legal Clearance $20K
[#4] Legal review/clearance for source audio/text and any rights purchases.
Initial Distribution $10K
[#5] Initial secure courier distribution of masters to three sites with chain-of-custody and insured transport.
Training Initial $5K
[#16] One-time instructional classes and practicum in video editing / safe handling for Researcher Romana and operational staff.
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $3.1M/yr
Staff Wages $2.3M/yr
[#7, #9, #15, #20] Annual salaries and benefits: 12Lambda-7 immune staff (~$1,440,000), 6 security guards (~$360,000), security overtime/MTF escort budget (~$40,000), research team wages (2 FTEs, $400,000), and 1 FTE administrative salary ($60,000).
Logistics And Transport $204K/yr
[#5, #10] Recurring secure transfers/site-to-site refreshes (~$60k/yr) and MTF screening travel/per-diem (~$144k/yr).
Audit And Compliance $110K/yr
[#13] External audits, red-team penetration tests, and internal compliance reporting/monitoring to detect anti-transcription attempts.
Cover Story And Legal $100K/yr
[#21] Retainer and PR/legal budget for FOIA responses, outside inquiries, and rapid legal action if leaks occur.
Medical Contingency $100K/yr
[#14] Annual contingency for treatment, sick-leave, quarantine support, and mental health services for affected personnel.
Contingency Replenish $100K/yr
[#22] Annual replenishment target for the contingency/insurance reserve.
Research And Monitoring $50K/yr
[#15] Ongoing research non-wage costs (lab equipment consumables, testing) to study Lambda-7 mechanics and safer archival methods. Researcher wages are included under staff_wages.
It Security Licensing $40K/yr
[#12] Annual licensing & update costs for DLP, endpoint management, and anti-screenshot controls.
It Deletion Operations $25K/yr
[#11] Ongoing operations & forensic verification costs for secure deletion workflows and backup purging.
Medical Screening $20K/yr
[#8] Periodic clinical tests and ongoing immunity verification for Lambda-7 immune personnel.
Recruiting Ongoing $20K/yr
[#23] Ongoing recruiting, advertising, and candidate screening to maintain the immune personnel pool.
Supplies And Consumables $15K/yr
[#24] Archival sleeves, labels, tamper-evident seals, PPE, and small recurring consumables.
Facilities Maintenance $10K/yr
[#18] UPS/generator maintenance, fuel, and HVAC upkeep to preserve media integrity and ensure playback during outages.
Archival Media Refresh $10K/yr
[#17] Annual media refresh, integrity verification, and replacement of decaying analog film; LTO cartridge replacement cycle.
Secure Destruction $10K/yr
[#19] Certified destruction services and logged proof-of-destruction for prohibited copies and non-conforming hardware.
Training Annual $5K/yr
[#16] Annual refresher courses and practicums on safe film handling and update procedures.
Administrative Incidentals $5K/yr
[#20] Incidental supplies and tools related to access approvals, background checks, and processing clearances.
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $3.1M/yr
94.5% probability / year
Normal operational year with no major incidents; regular screenings, maintenance, and staffing costs only.
no breaches scheduled screenings routine maintenance
🚨 Minor Incident $3.6M/yr
5.0% probability / year +$500K vs baseline
Localized leak/unauthorized capture attempt or small cluster exposure requiring extra remediation, legal action, and temporary staffing surge.
small-scale leak unauthorized recording attempt localized personnel exposure
🚨 Major Breach $8.1M/yr
0.5% probability / year +$5.0M vs baseline
Significant containment breach or public exposure causing widespread illness, large legal liabilities, emergency relocation of archives, and major remediation.
widespread personnel illness public disclosure loss of multiple masters
👥 Personnel 21 total
Role Count Notes
Lambda-7 Immune Personnel 12 [#7] Maintained roster of immune staff across three sites (3–5 per site rotation).
Security Officer / MTF Agent 6 [#9] Six guards (2 per site equivalent) covering full-time security duties; overtime budget accounted elsewhere.
Research Scientist 2 [#15] Two FTE researchers working on infohazard mechanics and safer archival methods; salaries included in staff_wages.
Administrative Staff 1 [#20] One FTE admin to process clearances, logging, and viewing authorizations.
📋 Confidence Notes
Line-item costs are based on explicit analyst estimates for each numbered item, but several items (contingency, probabilities for adverse scenarios, and long-term attrition of immunity) are inherently uncertain, leading to medium confidence.
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