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SCP-4908 Safe ~ medium confidence
SCP-4908
Expected annual
$2.2M
One-time setup
$3.5M
Annual recurring
$2.1M
Personnel
10
First-year startup costs are dominated by a planned catastrophic contingency reserve and initial research/containment buildout (~$3.55M one-time); ongoing annual operations are driven by staff wages, medical/psychiatric staffing, and an MTF/contingency retainer (~$2.12M/year).
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $3.5M
Catastrophic Contingency Reserve $3.0M
[#26] One-time large contingency reserve for worst-case/site-wide catastrophic response and public containment support.
Initial Research And Lab Setup $275K
[#10, #17] High-fidelity anomalous measurement instrumentation (EEG, high-speed/IR cameras, magnetometers, time-sync equipment) and initial memetic/countermemetic safeguards and setup for research.
Facilities $190K
[#1, #2, #21] Includes secure Safe-class containment locker procurement/installation, testing suite remodel/construction, and initial backup power/environmental controls.
Equipment $80K
[#3, #12, #13] One-time purchase/installation of bedside medical monitoring and emergency equipment (#3), secure/air-gapped data capture setup (#12 setup portion), and initial hardware spares (#13 spares).
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $2.1M/yr
Staff Wages $865K/yr
[#4, #5, #16, #23] Salaries/pro-rated retainers: on-call physician & nurse retainer (#4), senior psychiatrists/researchers (#5), guard/security staffing allocated to program (#16), and program manager/administrative staff time (#23).
Mtf Contingency Reserve $600K/yr
[#18] Annual retainer/reserve for rapid MTF/contingency response to reality threats or sequences producing XK-class scenarios (#18 recurring allocation).
Research And Monitoring $262K/yr
[#11, #12, #17] Ongoing experimental research budget (personnel, consumables, analysis) (#11), maintenance for secure data systems (#12 maintenance), and ongoing memetic/countermemetic research & safeguards maintenance (#17 recurring).
Post Session Care $138K/yr
[#8] Pre- and post-session intensive psychiatric care / long-term therapy for subjects (#8). Assumes ~5 subjects/year at midpoint per-subject cost.
Cover Story And Legal $88K/yr
[#19] Legal, NDAs, fabricated reporting, and front-company/cover-story maintenance to conceal procurement and program activity (#19).
Logistics And Transport $30K/yr
[#15] Secure transportation, tamper-evident transfer protocols, and guarded transfers for offsite movements (#15).
Approval Board Admin $30K/yr
[#6] Administrative processing time, record-keeping, scheduling, and Medical Director/psychiatrist review overhead for each use (#6).
Personnel Time Compensation $28K/yr
[#25] Compensation/backfill/overtime to cover lost productivity of Foundation personnel undergoing sessions; estimated per significant case and averaged annually (#25).
Amnestic Program $25K/yr
[#9] Annual budget for amnestic agents, administration, and monitoring (program-level allocation) (#9).
Ethics Oversight $25K/yr
[#20] Independent ethical review and periodic compliance audits to ensure approval criteria and documentation (#20).
Subject Screening $16K/yr
[#7] Per-candidate forensic psychiatric evaluations, background checks, toxicology and risk assessments (#7). Assumes ~5 candidates/year at midpoint per-subject cost.
Supplies And Consumables $6K/yr
[#13, #14, #24] Headset sanitary liners and spare consumables (#13 recurring), sanitization and infection-control supplies (#14), and miscellaneous consumables/PPE (#24).
Facilities Maintenance $4K/yr
[#21, #22] Annual maintenance for backup power/environmental systems (#21) and incremental utilities/energy cost for the suite (#22).
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $2.1M/yr
82.5% probability / year
Normal operational year without major incidents; routine testing and research, regular staffing and maintenance.
scheduled_sessions routine_research no breaches or large incidents
🚨 Minor Incident $2.3M/yr
15.0% probability / year +$150K vs baseline
Small-scale medical emergencies or localized equipment damage requiring extra medical care, repairs, and short MTF support.
subject cardiac event requiring extended care equipment repair/replacement limited MTF deployment
🚨 Major Breach $3.6M/yr
2.0% probability / year +$1.5M vs baseline
Significant containment breach or reality-graded anomalous sequence affecting site operations, requiring multi-day lockdown and sizable MTF response.
anomalous XK-class scenario manifesting multi-casualty medical response extended MTF mobilization
🚨 Catastrophic Breach $12.1M/yr
0.5% probability / year +$10.0M vs baseline
Very low-probability, very-high-cost event requiring major public containment actions, cross-site mobilization, and long-term mitigation.
widespread reality alteration public exposure multi-site emergency response
👥 Personnel 10 total
Role Count Notes
Medical Officer 1 [#4] On-call/dedicated physician for sessions.
Nurse 1 [#4] On-call/dedicated nurse for sessions and emergency care.
Research Scientist / Psychiatrist 3 [#5] Two independent psychiatrists for approval plus treating psychiatrist/researcher(s).
Security Officer / MTF Agent 4 [#16] Guard staffing to provide shift coverage for storage and testing suite.
Administrative Staff / Program Manager 1 [#6, #23] Program manager and administrative support for scheduling, procurement, and recordkeeping.
📋 Confidence Notes
Estimates use midpoints of analyst ranges and assume ~5 subjects/year and specific allocations (MTF retainer, catastrophic reserve). Uncertainty remains around subject throughput, policy choices for amnestics/MTF readiness, and incidence rates of severe adverse scenarios.
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