← SCP Cost Explorer Read on SCP Wiki ↗
SCP-5169 Unknown ? low confidence
SCP-5169
Expected annual
$3.6M
One-time setup
$9.6M
Annual recurring
$3.5M
Personnel
8
Estimated one-time setup costs are dominated by buyback/retrieval contingencies and contingency reserves (~$9.6M). Ongoing annual costs are driven by dedicated security, specialist staff, intelligence/third-party monitoring, and contingency/reserve allocations (~$3.45M/yr).
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $9.6M
Covert Buyback Reserve $5.0M
[#11] Contingency reserve for covert acquisitions / buybacks from MCD or clients (set-aside fund).
Covert Retrieval Fund $1.0M
[#12] Initial fund for complex covert retrieval & remediation operations (planning, tactical ops).
Antimemetic Research $1.0M
[#15] One-time initial R&D for antimemetic/pharmacological countermeasures (conditional).
Escalation Contingency Reserve $1.0M
[#26] Initial contingency reserve for escalations (political fallout, mass misuse, leak response).
Disposal Of 51 Items $500K
[#18] Budgeted option to securely dispose/neutralize all 51 contained items (aggregate mid-range estimate).
Facilities $370K
[#1, #19] Safe-class locker build-out for 51 items and site infrastructure upgrades (CCTV, perimeter, badge readers) — combined estimate.
Initial Research And Lab Setup $300K
[#16] Controlled experimentation & safety trials lab setup and associated instrumentation.
One Time Secure Transport $150K
[#10] Purchase of an armored vehicle / secure-transport platform (purchase option).
Equipment $130K
[#2, #8, #9] Environmental control/monitoring hardware, specialized containment cases/EM shielding, and redundant power hardware (UPS/generator).
Data Management $75K
[#24] Hardened servers, air-gapped backups and secure records infrastructure initial purchase/setup.
Staff Training Setup $50K
[#20] Initial staff training program and memetic/ethical handling seminars setup costs.
Access Control Setup $40K
[#4] One-time setup for access control systems, background-check onboarding infrastructure and badge management setup.
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $3.5M/yr
Staff Wages $850K/yr
[#3, #5] Dedicated guard staffing for 24/7 security (6 guards) and 1–3 on-site containment scientists/technicians (modeled as 2 specialists).
Third Party Monitoring $400K/yr
[#23] Monitoring & containment of third-party possession (MCD clients): surveillance, safehouses, undercover agents.
Intelligence Monitoring $300K/yr
[#13] Ongoing intelligence, surveillance subscriptions, analysts and informant networks to track MCD/client activity.
Incident Response $300K/yr
[#17] Retained rapid response team (RRT) budget and emergency readiness; activation costs are ad-hoc.
Research And Monitoring $250K/yr
[#15, #16] Ongoing antimemetic maintenance and controlled-experiment monitoring / safety trial budgets.
Cover Story And Legal $250K/yr
[#14] Legal retainers, black-ops counsel, PR/cover creation and routine cover-story maintenance (excluding large ad-hoc settlements).
Litigation And Indemnity $200K/yr
[#22] Annual retainer for litigation defense, crisis law teams and indemnity budgeting (excludes variable settlements).
Reputational And Opportunity Costs $200K/yr
[#27] Budget for lost collaborations, hiring/training replacements, overtime and implicit overhead.
Contingency Reserve $200K/yr
[#26] Annual allocation to a contingency reserve for escalations and unexpected response costs.
Medical And Psych $150K/yr
[#6] Medical and psychological support for staff and exposed persons (occupational health, counseling, prophylaxis).
Logistics And Transport $100K/yr
[#10] Recurring drivers/operations and maintenance for secure transport (or equivalent contracted ops).
Public Health Coordination $100K/yr
[#21] Coordination with external public health agencies and covert public-health liaison activities.
Ethical Oversight $50K/yr
[#25] Retained ethicists, periodic review boards and external consultants.
Access Control And Vetting $40K/yr
[#4] Recurring costs for reinvestigations, background checks and badge administration.
Staff Training $30K/yr
[#20] Annual refresher training and simulated breach exercises.
Supplies And Consumables $15K/yr
[#7] PPE, consumables, sterilization and cleaning supplies.
Data Management Maintenance $10K/yr
[#24] Ongoing maintenance, audits and secure archival costs for logs and experiment records.
Facilities Maintenance $5K/yr
[#2, #9] Energy and routine maintenance for environmental control and backup power systems.
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $3.5M/yr
85.0% probability / year
Normal operational year with no major retrievals or incidents; routine containment, monitoring and maintenance only.
no retrievals no breaches routine operations
🚨 Minor Incident $4.0M/yr
10.0% probability / year +$500K vs baseline
Localized containment failure or accidental detonation causing limited casualties, repairs, legal and medical costs.
single-site detonation limited public exposure RRT activation
🚨 Major Retrieval Campaign $6.5M/yr
5.0% probability / year +$3.0M vs baseline
Large-scale buyback and covert retrievals from MCD/clients, including multiple tactical operations and high-value purchases.
discovery of widespread distribution market premium on items coordinated retrieval operations
👥 Personnel 8 total
Role Count Notes
Security Officer / MTF Agent 6 Dedicated 24/7 guard staffing (3 shifts) for locker security. Mapped to staff wages [#3].
Research Scientist 2 On-site containment scientists/technicians to handle, test and log items (modeled as 2 staff). Mapped to staff wages [#5].
📋 Confidence Notes
Wide ranges in analyst notes (especially buyback/retrieval, memetic risk and number of external instances) produce high uncertainty; many costs are conditional on unknown hazard characteristics and MCD activity.
← SCP-5168 ↑ All SCPs SCP-5171 →