SCP-552 — SCP-552 | Cost Breakdown

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SCP-552 Safe ~ medium confidence

SCP-552

Expected annual

$1.8M

One-time setup

$1.1M

Annual recurring

$1.8M

Personnel

Initial one-time capital for a dedicated padded containment suite and robust AV/power systems is approximately $794,500; dominant recurring costs are personnel, site lease/security, legal/cover operations, and contingency, totaling about $1.81M/year.

🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $1.1M

Equipment $520K

[#2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #15, #18, #19, #21] Reinforced floor anchors & restraint systems; initial gag kit; time-delay CCTV/playback servers & cameras & custom software; archival storage hardware; UPS/generator; dedicated armored vehicle purchase; initial secure records system; alarm integration; initial IT hardening.

Facilities $275K

[#1] Containment suite construction (padded room, bolting, HVAC, sealed finishes, secure door/window).

Transportation Vehicle $275K

[#15] Dedicated armored vehicle purchase (required due to prohibition on transport through populated areas).

Records System Initial $18K

[#18] Initial secure recordkeeping/archival system (redaction-capable, encrypted).

It Hardening Initial $18K

[#21] Initial IT security hardening (air-gap assurance, tamper-logging setup).

Alarm Integration Initial $15K

[#19] Initial alarm integration for SCP-552 cues and emergency response integration.

Initial Research And Lab Setup $0

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🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $1.8M/yr

Staff Wages $856K/yr

[#7, #8, #9, #10, #11] Security guards (24/7 coverage), research/monitoring staff, clinical staff (physician/psychologist), IT/AV technician, media censorship/review workload.

Facilities Maintenance $261K/yr

[#13, #14] Cleaning/linen/periodic re-padding for padded environment and facility lease/remote-site premium and site security.

Insurance And Overhead $176K/yr

[#22] Liability insurance (mid-range) plus institutional overhead (~15% of direct personnel costs) for HR/payroll/procurement.

Contingency Reserve $150K/yr

[#20] Containment upgrade contingency (reserve ~10% of operating budget) to address accelerating temporal gap and future upgrades.

Cover Story And Legal $125K/yr

[#17] Legal/ethics oversight, cover-story maintenance, counsel and compliance costs.

Per Transfer Costs $50K/yr

[#15] Typical per-move cost (airlift/secured convoy) estimate; assumes occasional transfers under constraints.

Research And Monitoring $40K/yr

[#16] External neuroimaging and contracted testing budget (EEG/MRI/MEG sessions and lab fees).

Misc Admin $30K/yr

[#25] Miscellaneous admin, procurement, small capital replacements, travel for consultants, sundry supplies.

Training Budget $25K/yr

[#24] Ongoing personnel turnover training, restraint protocol refreshers, paradox-experiment safety training.

Medevac Contract $20K/yr

[#23] Emergency medical evacuation / medevac contract for remote site operations.

Av Maintenance $18K/yr

[#4] Maintenance, patching, and support for air-gapped time-delay CCTV/playback hardware and custom software.

Storage Growth And Backups $10K/yr

[#5] Yearly increase in archival storage, off-site encrypted backups, tape/cloud handling growth.

Data Archival And Logging $10K/yr

[#18] Ongoing secure data logging, redaction handling, and archival operations.

Emergency Drills $10K/yr

[#19] Training, drills, and alarm-response exercises to interpret SCP-552 cues and minimize false responses.

It Audits $10K/yr

[#21] Periodic IT audits to verify air-gap integrity and tamper logs.

Supplies And Consumables $7K/yr

[#3, #12] Consumable gag covers/sterilization replacement and medical supplies/medications/food/hygiene.

Power Maintenance And Fuel $5K/yr

[#6] UPS/generator maintenance, load testing, and fuel contracts.

Gag Consumables $4K/yr

[#3] Ongoing replacement/sterilization/disposable covers for humane medical gagging systems.

Restraint Spares And Inspections $2K/yr

[#2] Annual spares and inspection budget for reinforced floor anchors and medical restraint systems.

Logistics And Transport $0/yr

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⚡ Cost Scenarios

📊 Baseline (baseline) $1.8M/yr

87.0% probability / year

Normal uneventful year with scheduled operations, one-off transfers/tops already budgeted in recurring costs.

steady containment no major upgrades routine operations

🚨 Minor Incident $2.0M/yr

10.0% probability / year +$150K vs baseline

Unexpected incident requiring emergency response, extra secure transfer or temporary surge in staffing/medical care and repairs.

urgent relocation or medevac acute medical crisis localized damage to containment room

🚨 Containment Upgrade Major $2.3M/yr

3.0% probability / year +$500K vs baseline

Significant upgrade forced by accelerating temporal gap (large storage/playback expansion, new playback tech, containment redesign).

accelerating temporal gap storage/playback capacity exceeded need for radical containment changes

👥 Personnel 12 total

Role	Count	Notes
Security Officer / MTF Agent	7	[#7] 24/7 coverage (6–8 guards to staff 3 shifts + overlap); chosen average 7 guards.
Research Scientist / Technician	2	[#8] Minimum 2 full-time researchers/technicians for monitoring, experiments, and weekly delay updates.
Clinical Staff (Physician / Psychologist)	1	[#9] Combined part-time physician/clinical psychologist (0.5–1.0 FTE total represented as 1 staff on site/contract).
IT/AV Technician	1	[#10] 0.5–1.0 FTE to operate and update the delay system weekly; modeled as 1 on staff.
Administrative / Media Censorship Staff	1	[#11] Staff or contracted service for censorship/review workload (0.25–0.5 FTE); represented as 1 admin/censorship role.

📋 Confidence Notes

Estimates are based on analyst ranges provided; staffing and lease figures are well-described but the accelerating temporal gap and transport contingencies introduce uncertainty, so medium confidence.

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