SCP-5387 — SCP-5387 | Cost Breakdown

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SCP-5387 Euclid ~ medium confidence

SCP-5387

Expected annual

$11.0M

One-time setup

$3.0B

Annual recurring

$10.4M

Personnel

One-time establishment and catastrophic-reserve costs dominate (≈$2.96B one-time) driven by a large contingency fund, buffer land acquisition and optional hardened relocation; recurring operations are modest by comparison at ≈$10.36M/yr driven by research/security payroll, MTF readiness and public-health contingency.

🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $3.0B

Contingency Catastrophic Fund $2.8B

[#19] Contingency catastrophic response / liability reserve fund to cover large-scale incidents and remediation.

Site Buffer Land $105.0M

[#18] Purchase/secure remote buffer land and zoning to provide significant exclusion radii around containment site.

Underground Relocation Option $100.0M

[#20] Option estimate for relocation to a hardened underground facility (listed as a possible but costly alternative).

Decommissioning Per Instance Estimate $2.5M

[#30] Representative per-instance deliberate destruction / site sanitization operation (one-time per-instance cost).

Human Containment Cells $1.9M

[#5] Upgrade/build 4–8 secure non-flammable human containment cells with remote controls and monitoring.

Advanced Risk Reduction Automation $1.8M

[#20] Cost to fully automate handling and eliminate human-exposure pathways (full automation estimate).

Facilities $1.4M

[#1] Secure greenhouse containment build (foundation-grade reinforced greenhouse sized for 25–30 m specimens).

Heavy Lift Equipment $500K

[#21] Heavy-lift cranes, reinforced trailers and custom root-ball containers for specimen moves (purchase).

Faraday Shielding $200K

[#2] Faraday/EM shielding and RF isolation for greenhouse, shielded recording suite and radio ports.

Medical Bay Build $200K

[#14] Secure medical bay and decontamination suite build (adjacent to human cells, incineration-capable disposal).

Backup Power Install $165K

[#7] Backup power generation and UPS installation (diesel genset, switchover, UPS).

Robotic System $162K

[#3] Robotic remote-handling/plucking system purchase (manipulator arm, reach tools, camera package, mounting).

Cctv Install $138K

[#8] CCTV, intrusion detection and sensor suite installation (motion, thermal, trunk/fruit illumination monitors).

Hvac Installation $100K

[#6] Redundant HVAC/filtration and HEPA/chemical scrubber installation for greenhouse and adjacent human cells.

Training Initial $100K

[#12] Initial training and PPE procurement (remote-handling training, specialised PPE).

Digital Archive Initial $100K

[#16] Initial digital recording/archive hardware and shielded servers (offline backups, forensics tools).

Lead Recording Units $26K

[#4] Modified lead-lined recording containers & hardened shortwave rigs (3–5 units aggregated).

Secure Med Storage $25K

[#13] One-time secure storage lab build for Class-B amnestic inventory and licensed pharmacy storage.

Equipment $0

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Initial Research And Lab Setup $0

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🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $10.4M/yr

Public Health Contingency $5.0M/yr

[#28] Covert public-health and epidemiological monitoring interventions and contingency campaigns for exposures.

Staff Wages $1.7M/yr

[#9,#10] Dedicated research payroll (lead, scientists, technicians, horticulturalist) plus site security guard wages (aggregated).

Mtf Theta4 Budget $1.2M/yr

[#11] Dedicated MTF Theta-4 operating budget for field acquisition, recon, retrieval and rapid-response readiness.

Field Acquisition Budget $600K/yr

[#22] Annual intelligence, search-and-capture missions, cover operations and field contingency ops.

Cybersecurity And Takedown $325K/yr

[#17] Monitoring for leaks, takedown operations, legal counsel and public information suppression.

Legal Liability Management $300K/yr

[#23] Ongoing legal counsel, personnel liability management, cover-story maintenance and amnestic follow-ups.

Botanical Research $250K/yr

[#25] Ongoing botanical/genetic research (sequencing, reagents, propagation control and sample analysis).

Transport And Retrieval Contracts $200K/yr

[#21] Annual budget for per-mission heavy-lift contractors and transport when not owning equipment outright.

Public Safety Exercises $150K/yr

[#24] Covert evacuation drills, coordination with local authorities and false-flag mitigation exercises.

Waste Handling $125K/yr

[#15] Annual hazardous-waste contracts, autoclave/incinerator operations and disposal throughput costs.

Amnestic Supply $88K/yr

[#13] Class-B amnestic procurement, storage/replacement and qualified medical administration (inventory replacement).

Training Refresher $65K/yr

[#12] Recurring refresher training, PPE replacement and emergency drills.

Vetting Psych Screening $65K/yr

[#26] Psychological screening, strict hiring/vetting and associated attrition/hiring overhead.

Backup Power Fuel $50K/yr

[#7] Fuel, maintenance and service contracts for backup generators and UPS.

Incident Response Reserve $50K/yr

[#27] Budgeted expected annual reserve for per-incident armed response, forensic handling and site quarantine (per-incident costs averaged over time).

Medical Bay Ops $40K/yr

[#14] Operating costs for secure medical bay and decontamination suite (staffing, disposables, incineration ops).

Cctv Monitoring $30K/yr

[#8] Monitoring, maintenance and sensor calibration for CCTV and intrusion detection.

Horticulture Consumables $30K/yr

[#29] Annual consumables for daily horticulture (watering, fertilizers, substrates, supports).

Hvac Operation $25K/yr

[#6] Energy, filter replacement and chemical scrubber upkeep for redundant HVAC systems.

Digital Archive Ops $25K/yr

[#16] Ongoing storage, forensics labor and archival reviews for recorded broadcasts.

Robotic Maintenance $12K/yr

[#3] Annual maintenance for robotic remote-handling/plucking system.

Facilities Maintenance $0/yr

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Supplies And Consumables $0/yr

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Research And Monitoring $0/yr

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Logistics And Transport $0/yr

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Cover Story And Legal $0/yr

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⚡ Cost Scenarios

📊 Baseline (baseline) $10.4M/yr

88.9% probability / year

Normal operational year with no significant incidents; routine containment, research and readiness activities only.

no_broadcast_breach routine_maintenance scheduled_research

🚨 Minor Incident $10.5M/yr

10.0% probability / year +$150K vs baseline

Isolated unauthorized broadcast or single exposure requiring localized response, additional amnestics and limited field operations.

single_broadcast_exposure localized_termination small_amnestic_campaign

🚨 Major Breach $20.4M/yr

1.0% probability / year +$10.0M vs baseline

Containment breach leading to one or more SCP-5387-B/C detonations or large field operations requiring rebuild, decontamination and major MTF action.

localized_detonation site_damage major_retrievals

🚨 Catastrophic Breach $510.4M/yr

0.1% probability / year +$500.0M vs baseline

Detonation of an SCP-5387-B/C in or near populated areas causing mass casualties, national-level response, and massive remediation/cover-up costs.

population_center_detonation wide_spread_exposure international_response

👥 Personnel 18 total

Role	Count	Notes
Lead Researcher	1	[#9] Senior researcher / head researcher responsible for approvals and oversight.
Research Scientist	3	[#9] Full-time research scientists conducting analysis and trials (2–3; rounded up).
Lab Technician	4	[#9] Lab technicians for daily sample handling, recording and sample prep (3–4; rounded up).
Horticulturalist	1	[#9] Dedicated horticulturalist for plant care and daily trimming.
Security Officer / Site Guard	9	[#10] Armed security staff for perimeter and internal facility checks (6–12; midpoint used).

📋 Confidence Notes

Line items and ranges are fairly well-documented in analyst notes for operational and equipment costs (medium confidence), but extreme tail risks (site-buffer sizing, catastrophic reserve and underground relocation feasibility) have large uncertainty which lowers overall confidence.

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