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SCP-5218 Unknown ~ medium confidence
SCP-5218
Expected annual
$172K
One-time setup
$1.0M
Annual recurring
$161K
Personnel
3
One-time incident costs for recovery, testing, analysis and disposal are roughly $1.02M (major drivers: specialist analysis, per-item testing campaign, maritime interdiction, and contingency). Ongoing annual costs for minimal post-disposal staffing, archives and monitoring are roughly $161,000/yr.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $1.0M
Initial Research And Lab Setup $350K
[#8, #9, #14] Scientific staff time for testing campaign (salaries/overtime/travel/per-diems), analytical lab work (XRF/XRD/SEM/ICP-MS/etc.), and per-test output handling/analysis/destruction costs for the testing campaign.
Contingency And Overhead $170K
[#21] Program contingency (20% of direct one-time costs) for project management, security escalation cushion and unforeseen regulatory costs.
Maritime Interdiction $150K
[#1] Boarding/seizure operation costs: special-ops or contractor hire, port fees, incident command, tug/crane hire depending on assets used.
Equipment $85K
[#2, #6, #7, #10, #11] Shipboard rigging/crane hire and heavy-lift handling, power/HVAC equipment purchase/install, CCTV/intrusion/EM/radiation sensors, industrial CT/X-ray imaging hardware/services, specialized tooling/EDM/laser rental and operator fees.
Facilities $70K
[#4, #5] Intake/quarantine modifications and installation of a dedicated small containment/test chamber (reinforced pallet/cell, barriers, negative-pressure chamber, gloveport, HEPA/filtration, Faraday/visual isolation).
Legal And Coverup $50K
[#17] Payments to shipping company, settlements, legal retainer and cover-story costs to suppress/disguise public exposure.
Disposal And Demolition $40K
[#12] Controlled disassembly, fragment containment, hazardous-metal handling, certified hazardous-waste contractor, transport to disposal or deep storage.
Security Staffing One Time $30K
[#15] Short-term/surge security coverage for the month of testing/transport (overtime/pro rata for guards during campaign).
Medical Monitoring Initial $20K
[#16] Initial baseline exams, bloodwork, mental-health screening, immunizations/prophylaxis for the test team.
Media Control $20K
[#19] PR/legal advisor fees and liaison payments to port authorities/local governments to manage immediate public exposure.
Secure Transport $15K
[#3] Armored truck or short-notice airlift plus escorts, fuel, insurance and cover-story logistics (baseline truck estimate used).
Hazardous Waste Handling $15K
[#13] Soil/waste testing, manifests, licensed disposal fees, and any immediate environmental testing/remediation.
Recordkeeping Setup $7K
[#18] Secure archive setup costs, redaction of media, classified archiving setup and secure backup initial configuration.
Rough Order Of Magnitude $0
[#22] Summary ROUGH ORDER-OF-MAGNITUDE referenced in analyst notes; detailed line items above used for totals.
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $161K/yr
Staff Wages $120K/yr
[#15] Ongoing small dedicated staffing (security/technician/administrative) to maintain archives, periodic checks and basic site oversight.
Research And Monitoring $10K/yr
[#7, #14] Periodic analytical monitoring, sensor data review, and limited follow-up testing/analysis if required.
Cover Story And Legal $10K/yr
[#17, #19] Ongoing legal retainer and PR/liaison costs to maintain cover stories and respond to inquiries.
Facilities Maintenance $5K/yr
[#20] Maintenance of storage/vault space and occasional facility upkeep for retained samples and monitoring infrastructure.
Medical Surveillance $5K/yr
[#16] Ongoing health surveillance and follow-up exams for personnel who handled outputs or remains.
Supplies And Consumables $3K/yr
[#6] PPE, filters, small consumables and replacement parts for monitoring systems and containment over time.
Archives And Sample Storage $2K/yr
[#20] Annual vault storage fees, inventory management, and security monitoring for retained fragments/samples.
Logistics And Transport $2K/yr
[#3] Occasional sample transport, courier and small-scale logistics for retained materials.
Recordkeeping And It Storage $2K/yr
[#18] Ongoing secure digital storage, backups and periodic integrity checks for logs and redacted media.
Energy And Filters $2K/yr
[#6] Electricity, filter replacements and UPS maintenance for the small containment chamber and monitoring equipment.
Per Output Testing Recurring $0/yr
[#14] Per-output testing costs if the device were to be used in ongoing campaigns; set to 0 for baseline given SCP has been disassembled and remains disposed.
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $161K/yr
94.0% probability / year
Normal year following disposal: minimal ongoing staffing, archives maintenance and periodic monitoring; no further testing or incidents.
no_further_testing routine_archival_maintenance
🚨 Minor Incident $211K/yr
5.0% probability / year +$50K vs baseline
Localized contamination, unexpected hazardous output discovery, or a small public inquiry requiring cleanup and extra legal/PR work.
localized_contamination small_public_inquiry unexpected_output_spike
🚨 Major Breach $961K/yr
1.0% probability / year +$800K vs baseline
Significant exposure, litigation, large-scale environmental remediation, or a containment/security failure requiring large emergency response and legal settlements.
public_exposure large_scale_contamination major_litigation
👥 Personnel 3 total
Role Count Notes
Security Officer / MTF Agent 1 Embedded security presence for vault/archives and occasional escort duties (part of recurring staff_wages).
Research Technician 1 Technical oversight for monitoring, periodic testing and equipment maintenance (part of recurring staff_wages).
Administrative Staff 1 Records management, liaison and logistics administration supporting archives and legal/PR coordination (part of recurring staff_wages).
📋 Confidence Notes
Analyst notes provide many line-item ranges and a concrete incident description; however wide ranges for maritime seizure, per-item testing, legal exposure and contingency introduce substantial uncertainty, so overall confidence is medium.
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