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SCP-4550 Keter ~ medium confidence
SCP-4550
Expected annual
$9.3M
One-time setup
$6.8M
Annual recurring
$9.3M
Personnel
77
Initial capital costs are roughly $6.8M driven by site acquisition, hardened facilities, research lab buildout and a $2M contingency reserve; recurring annual costs are about $9.26M dominated by specialized personnel wages and security.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $6.8M
Contingency Reserve $2.0M
[#20] Emergency/rapid-response reserve to cover public exposure, mass amnestics, litigation, bribes/payouts and rapid asset movement.
Initial Research And Lab Setup $1.5M
[#11] Specialized shielded research/consequence lab build-out, secure isolation booths and non-propagating imaging rigs.
Facilities $1.4M
[#1, #2, #17] Land/perimeter acquisition and hardening, hardened containment/ops bunker, and initial environmental remediation/site cap — includes covert acquisition/legal fees where noted.
Equipment $1.4M
[#3, #4, #5, #10, #12, #16, #19, #21, #23] Faraday/isolation suites and specialized display systems, initial drone R&D/procurement, incinerator purchase/installation, telegram line installation hardware, archival scanning/vault hardware, transport fleet purchase, non-electronic office hardware, IT air-gap hardware, and darkroom/film facility equipment.
Containment R And D $500K
[#25] Initial containment R&D program seed funding for non-propagating observation systems and memetic filters (multi-year program; initial tranche).
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $9.3M/yr
Staff Wages $6.5M/yr
[#6, #7, #10, #12] Primary payroll: specialized MTF cognitohazard teams (~36 personnel), perimeter/security guards (~36), communications operators for telegram lines and maintenance, and on-site archivist/staff.
Cover Story And Legal $850K/yr
[#14, #22] Covert legal/PR work, FOIA/press handling, family liaison costs and internal insurance/indemnity/administrative overhead.
Research And Monitoring $675K/yr
[#11, #13, #17, #24] Ongoing research staffing and consumables for shielded lab, evidence verification/forensics, environmental monitoring/site testing, and third-party audits/compliance/risk assessment.
Diplomatic And Intelligence $300K/yr
[#15] Back-channel negotiations, liaison, covert intelligence mitigations and related diplomatic costs.
Psychological And Medical $300K/yr
[#9] Continuous psychological screening, psychiatric care, amnestic inventory and medical support for exposed/stressed personnel.
Supplies And Consumables $275K/yr
[#4, #18, #19, #23] Recurring procurement and replenishment of expendable drones/remote consoles, per-mission expendable electronics/media destruction costs, non-electronic office supplies, and film processing consumables.
Training And Re Evaluation $144K/yr
[#8] Biannual re-evaluations, cognitohazard drills, instructor costs and consumables (including sacrificial electronics for training).
Facilities Maintenance $105K/yr
[#3, #5, #21] Maintenance and certification for Faraday/isolation suites, incinerator fuel/permits/emissions controls, and periodic IT/air-gap audits & maintenance.
Logistics And Transport $75K/yr
[#16] Recurring fleet fuel, routine maintenance, generator operation for safe zones and driver/operator costs included in logistics estimate.
Containment R And D Recurring $0/yr
[#25] Ongoing R&D funding is discretionary/variable; initial tranche is one-time and yearly follow-on funding is 'as needed' (not budgeted here).
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $9.3M/yr
94.0% probability / year
Normal operational year with routine missions, no major incidents or public exposure.
no_breach routine_exploration_tempo standard_staff_turnover
🚨 Minor Incident $9.8M/yr
5.0% probability / year +$500K vs baseline
Local containment incident requiring an accelerated response: extra incineration, targeted amnestic deployment, emergency legal/PR work and limited replacement of equipment.
limited_spread_within_perimeter loss_of_equipment targeted_public_exposure
🚨 Major Breach $14.3M/yr
1.0% probability / year +$5.0M vs baseline
Significant breach or public exposure requiring mass amnestic deployment, diplomatic mitigation, large equipment/site repairs and extended emergency operations.
widespread_electronic_propagation public_exposure international_incident_with_GOC
👥 Personnel 77 total
Role Count Notes
MTF / Specialized Cognitohazard Team 36 [#6] Three-team rotation (approx. 36 personnel) trained for memetic/electronic cognitohazards.
Security Officer / Perimeter Guard 36 [#7] 24/7 perimeter coverage estimated at ~36 guards (payroll included in recurring staff wages).
Communications Operator / Telegraph Operator 4 [#10] Operators to staff the primary and backup telegram/telegraph lines; headcount represents small dedicated team budgeted within recurring operators/maintenance.
Archivist / Conservation Staff 1 [#12] On-site archivist/conservation specialist for paper-archive handling and secure offline scanning (ongoing staff component included in recurring costs).
📋 Confidence Notes
Detailed analyst estimates were provided for most line items, especially personnel, but uncertainty remains around mission tempo, frequency of missions, and the unpredictable nature of a memetic/electronic hazard; contingency needs are highly scenario-dependent.
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