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SCP-5408 Unknown ? low confidence
SCP-5408
Expected annual
$30.1M
One-time setup
$178.8M
Annual recurring
$22.2M
Personnel
26
One-time capital costs are dominated by exceptional neutralization and specialized containment infrastructure (~$179M total), while recurring annual costs are driven by oceanic patrols, contingency reserves, and ongoing research/operations (~$22.2M/year).
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $178.8M
Neutralization Ordnance $150.0M
[#9] One-off bespoke neutralization ordnance (R5 "Twin Canary" analog): development/acquisition/deployment/security overhead (classified/exceptional asset).
Facilities $19.0M
[#1, #7, #13] Provisional Site-Q33 construction (prefab/hardened modules, comms shelter, pier/landing infrastructure) plus vault fit-out and specialized containment research infrastructure buildout.
Disinformation Operations Initial $3.0M
[#17] Initial payments and setup for disinformation/diplomatic cover operations to attribute events to foreign tests.
Post Neutralization Remediation $2.0M
[#10] Debris collection, decontamination, hazardous residue removal, remote-site logistics for remediation.
Equipment $1.6M
[#5, #20, #21] Initial underwater sensor/buoy/telemetry deployment hardware, hardened communications hardware, and initial fuel storage setup.
Initial Research And Lab Setup $1.1M
[#8, #11, #12, #23] Initial intensive radiological/environmental survey, cryptanalysis/signal-capture hardware and initial decrypt effort support, initial laboratory analysis campaign, and archival systems setup.
Insurance And Indemnity One Time $1.0M
[#19] Initial payments/assurances or indemnities to host states/international bodies.
Secure Transport Mission Initial $500K
[#6] Single secure retrieval/transport mission (charter, escorts, radiological handling).
Legal Retainer Setup $500K
[#16] Initial legal/cover-story archival setup and retainer for falsified narrative and FOIA/defense preparations.
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $22.2M/yr
Logistics And Transport $7.5M/yr
[#3, #4, #6, #2] Oceanic exclusion patrol vessel day rates/operations, aerial/UAV sorties and satellite tasking leasing, recurring secure transport missions and medevac readiness/port calls.
Contingency And Escalation Reserve $5.0M/yr
[#18, #24] Maintained contingency/reserve fund for emergency extraction, cleanup, legal settlements, or rapid surge deployments; also a risk bucket for escalation to national-level responses.
Staff Wages $2.3M/yr
[#2, #14] Salaries and benefits for rotating remote staff (example avg 12 staff ~ $1.2M) and armed guards/storage guards (14 guards ~ $1.12M).
Facilities Maintenance $2.0M/yr
[#2, #13] Remote site building maintenance, winterization repairs and annual ops for specialized containment infrastructure (HVAC/HEPA/etc.).
Research And Monitoring $1.4M/yr
[#8, #11, #12] Ongoing radiological/environmental monitoring (Sr-90), continued cryptanalysis/signal analysis, and follow-on laboratory research programs.
Cover Story And Legal $1.1M/yr
[#16, #17, #22] Ongoing legal counsel/retainers, disinformation/diplomatic maintenance payments, and public affairs/media mitigation.
Supplies And Consumables $700K/yr
[#2, #21] Food, medical supplies, diesel for generators/heating, waste handling, and fuel resupply operations.
Personnel Premium And Rotations $600K/yr
[#15] Premium pay, rotation flights/ship transport, hazard pay and medevac insurance for hazardous/remote postings.
Underwater Monitoring $500K/yr
[#5] Annual maintenance, boats/ROV/AUV surveys and upkeep for moored acoustic/EM/radiation buoys and seabed sensor packages.
Insurance And Indemnity $500K/yr
[#19] Ongoing insurance/indemnity payments to host nations or for asset coverage and political risk.
Communications And Cybersecurity $300K/yr
[#20] Ongoing hardened communications, encryption, secure destruction, and red-team audits to prevent leaks.
Vault Security And Monitoring $200K/yr
[#7] Annual security, radiation monitoring and regulatory/compliance costs for Secure Radioactive Container 5 at Site-104.
Archival And Curation $150K/yr
[#23] Long-term stewardship, curation, cataloguing, and climate-control costs for retained fragments and records.
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $22.2M/yr
74.0% probability / year
Routine year with no major incidents: normal operations, scheduled patrols, ongoing research and cover-story maintenance.
no_unexpected_fragments no_breach routine_operations
🚨 Minor Incident $24.2M/yr
20.0% probability / year +$2.0M vs baseline
Localized event requiring surge retrievals, an extra secure transport mission, short remediation and targeted diplomacy.
fragment_recovery_required sensor_alert unauthorized_approach
🚨 Major Breach $72.2M/yr
5.0% probability / year +$50.0M vs baseline
Containment failure or detectable contamination requiring large-scale cleanup, extended naval support, and significant diplomatic payments.
localized_contamination civilian_detection international_inquiry
🚨 Catastrophic Breach $522.2M/yr
1.0% probability / year +$500.0M vs baseline
Major exposure or international incident requiring national-defense-level response, massive cleanup, and prolonged diplomatic/legal costs.
widespread_contamination state-level_detection multi-jurisdictional_response
👥 Personnel 26 total
Role Count Notes
Research Scientist 6 [#2, #11, #12] Scientists assigned to remote provisional site and follow-on laboratory research; part of rotating remote staff.
Technician 6 [#2, #5, #12] Technical staff for site operations, sensor/ROV maintenance and laboratory support; part of rotating remote staff.
Security Officer / MTF Agent 14 [#3, #14] Armed guards for Site-104 storage and remote site security plus maritime boarding teams; example estimate 14 guards at ~$80k fully burdened.
📋 Confidence Notes
Estimates rely on wide ranges in analyst notes, classified/exceptional cost items (neutralization ordnance), and high uncertainty around incident probabilities and diplomatic liabilities; many costs are order-of-magnitude only.
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