← SCP Cost Explorer Read on SCP Wiki ↗
SCP-551 Safe ~ medium confidence
SCP-551
Expected annual
$26K
One-time setup
$207K
Annual recurring
$10K
Personnel
2
One-time setup and mitigation (lab outfitting, analog equipment, engineering reserve) are the primary upfront costs (~$207,000). Baseline annual operating costs are modest (~$10,500/yr) but active research or incidents can raise annual spending into the tens or hundreds of thousands.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $207K
Initial Research And Lab Setup $70K
[#10, #15] Outfitting of a compliant observation/test room (lighting, single-subject accommodation, CCTV-safe arrangements) and specialized engineering/R&D to create non-digital/hardened instrumentation.
Containment Upgrade Reserve $50K
[#21] Budget reserve for extended containment upgrade or relocation to higher security if effects worsen.
Equipment $38K
[#8, #13, #14] Purchase of analog imaging equipment/darkroom and magnifiers, soft restraints and PPE equipment, and an upfront replacement/contingency reserve for damaged electronics.
Legal And Cover Initial $30K
[#7, #22] Initial legal retainer/cover story/PR costs and any immediate civil/authority management expenses.
Transport Initial $5K
[#5] Initial secure transportation/custody transfer from discovery site to storage (armored vehicle, personnel, chain-of-custody processing).
Training Initial $5K
[#18] Initial training and SOP documentation development and tabletop exercises for no-digital-imaging rules and notification procedures.
Initial Evidence Processing $4K
[#6] Scene processing, forensic tech time, PPE, chemical cleaners, waste disposal and pathology where required from discovery.
Archives Setup $2K
[#20] One-time creation of physical non-digital archives, filing systems, and secure fireproof storage for negatives/paper logs.
Facilities $1K
[#1] Locker prep and small secure storage allocation (reinforced locker, lock/keycard, tagging, cardboard box).
Safeguards One Time $1K
[#23] One-time purchase of no-electronics signage, phone-lock boxes, lockers and enforcement hardware.
E Waste Disposal One Time $1K
[#16] Secure destruction/disposal for any contaminated/damaged device from initial incidents.
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $10K/yr
Staff Wages $4K/yr
[#3, #4] Pro-rated Level‑1 administrative notification duty and pro-rated security escort costs (assumes duty piggybacked on existing staff rather than full dedicated hires).
Facilities Maintenance $2K/yr
[#2, #20] Per-object share of site overhead (utilities/building maintenance) and physical archive storage maintenance.
Supplies And Consumables $2K/yr
[#9, #13, #16, #25] Film stock/development consumables, replenishment of sedatives/PPE, recurring small e-waste disposal and day-to-day handling supplies.
Research And Monitoring $1K/yr
[#10, #11, #12, #17, #18, #19, #24] Baseline minimal program costs: occasional short-term Class-D test allocation, periodic medical/psych monitoring on-call, incident troubleshooting allocation, refresher training, psychological aftercare and periodic classification reviews.
Cover Story And Legal $1K/yr
[#7, #22] Ongoing legal/PR/records management and small annual budget for cover-story maintenance and sealed records administration.
Logistics And Transport $500/yr
[#5] Occasional low-rate transport/custody transfers or removals (baseline, not including initial transfer).
Equipment Damage Contingency $0/yr
[#14] Baseline carries no recurring contingency; large replacement contingencies are handled as one-time/reserve expenditures when required.
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $10K/yr
84.0% probability / year
Routine year with no major testing program or incidents; only pro‑rated admin/security, minimal archival and consumables, and periodic reviews.
no active research no equipment-damaging incidents routine inspections only
🚨 Active Research Program $130K/yr
10.0% probability / year +$120K vs baseline
Year with an organized research/test program involving multiple Class-D tests, specialized engineering work, repeated analog documentation, and higher medical/monitoring burden.
multiple multi-week Class-D tests commissioned engineering prototypes regular film documentation and equipment replacement
🚨 Minor Equipment Incident $40K/yr
5.0% probability / year +$30K vs baseline
Single-year with one or more damaging electronic incidents (kernel panics/surge) requiring replacements, forensic investigation and emergency response.
DSP/computer damage from automated scanning attempts forensic IT investigation acute medical/psych response
🚨 Containment Upgrade $160K/yr
1.0% probability / year +$150K vs baseline
Rare year requiring significant containment upgrade or relocation and large one-time mitigation engineering and public/authority intervention.
expanded effects or repeated incidents public exposure or need for higher security major engineering containment required
👥 Personnel 2 total
Role Count Notes
Administrative Staff 1 Level‑1 notification/admin duty; pro-rated allocation rather than a full dedicated hire. Mapped to staff_wages [#3].
Security Officer / MTF Agent 1 Escort and occasional retrieval responsibilities; pro-rated allocation (not full-time dedicated guard in baseline). Mapped to staff_wages [#4].
📋 Confidence Notes
Analyst notes provide line-item ranges and clear mapping to likely categories (medium confidence). Wide cost ranges for research/engineering, incident frequency, and legal/PR outcomes produce uncertainty in scenario probabilities and magnitudes.
← SCP-550 ↑ All SCPs SCP-552 →