SCP-5743 — SCP-5743 | Cost Breakdown

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SCP-5743 Euclid ~ medium confidence

SCP-5743

Expected annual

$12.5M

One-time setup

$113.7M

Annual recurring

$11.5M

Personnel

Upfront capital (lab buildouts, ROVs, emergency assets, and large contingency reserves) dominate one-time expense (~$114M). Recurring annual operations (vessel campaigns, staff wages, enforcement, research, and readiness) are estimated at ~$11.2M/yr, with incident scenarios adding large potential costs.

🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $113.7M

Catastrophic Remediation Reserve $100.0M

[#25] Worst-case catastrophic remediation / large-scale contingency reserve for regional biological/geothaumic remediation.

Contingency Reserve $5.0M

[#23] Institutional self-insurance / classified contingency fund initial reserve.

Equipment $3.0M

[#2, #4, #12, #15, #16] Purchase/integration of work-class ROV(s) and AUVs (#2), seabed sensor hardware deployment procurement (#4), autoclave/chemical stations (#12), data hardware and secure telemetry uplinks (#15), and specialized transport/container design (#16).

Emergency Assets Initial Outfit $3.0M

[#19] One-time outfitting of rapid-response vessels, mobile containment tanks, drones, and team training as an initial capital cost for emergency response.

Initial Research And Lab Setup $1.2M

[#11, #8] Ancient DNA clean-room and sequencing-capable lab build (#11) plus initial memetic/psych program development costs (#8) and lab start-up.

Facilities $1.0M

[#6, #10, #21, #22] Site-109 tank retrofit (#6), curatorial vault build-out (#10), conservation facility setup (#21), and EMI/targeted shielding installations (#22) combined into facilities construction/fit-out estimate.

Cover Story Setup $400K

[#18] One-time costs to establish shells, permits, legal constructs, and initial PR infrastructure for sustained cover operations.

🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $11.5M/yr

Logistics And Transport $3.2M/yr

[#1, #16, #19] Deep-sea vessel charter / campaign day rates and transport campaign operational costs (#1), geofenced transport operations (#16), and standby readiness funding for rapid response (#19).

Staff Wages $3.1M/yr

[#9, #14, #2, #3] Aggregate payroll for research scientists/technicians, security officers/MTF, ROV technicians and essential site staff (salaries/benefits).

Maritime Enforcement $1.1M/yr

[#5] Private patrols, AIS geofencing/monitoring costs, and coordination costs to enforce 14 km exclusion.

Emergency Readiness Standby $1.0M/yr

[#19] Standby readiness budget: crew/asset retention, periodic drills, and readiness logistics.

Research And Monitoring $800K/yr

[#14, #11] Ongoing research consumables, field sampling contracts, sequencing per-sample costs, and anthropological/physiology consumables (research payroll excluded, included in staff_wages).

Rov And Auv Maintenance $300K/yr

[#3] Annual maintenance contracts, spare parts, and specialist technician travel for ROV/AUVs.

Cover Story And Legal $250K/yr

[#18] Ongoing PR, legal retainers, clandestine transaction costs, and cover operations to maintain plausible deniability.

Pr Cover Retainer $250K/yr

[#18] Ongoing PR and legal retainer fees to manage leaks, permits, and local authorities.

Medical Monitoring $200K/yr

[#13] Ongoing medical and psychiatric care, long-term monitoring and rehabilitation budgets for exposed/altered personnel (baseline per-year program estimate).

Transport Ops $200K/yr

[#16] Annual secure transport operations, vehicle maintenance, and geofencing/alarm monitoring for artifact moves.

Facilities Maintenance $150K/yr

[]

Supplies And Consumables $150K/yr

[#17] Excavation consumables, preservation chemicals, and campaign tooling consumables per year (assuming ~1 campaign/year baseline).

Sensor Telemetry Maintenance $150K/yr

[#4] Maintenance, telemetry, and upkeep for distributed seabed sensor network.

Memetic Program Ops $150K/yr

[#8] Ongoing psychological screening, staff rotation, training programs, and memetic monitoring/mitigation measures.

Data Infrastructure Ops $125K/yr

[#15] Secure air-gapped storage maintenance, backups, telemetry uplink costs, and IT operations.

Curatorial Operations $100K/yr

[#10] Cataloging staff, container supplies, climate control operations, and database upkeep for recovered items.

Environmental Mitigation $100K/yr

[#20] Annual ecological monitoring, baseline surveys, and mitigation actions tied to field campaigns.

Conservation Ops $100K/yr

[#21] Conservator staff, materials, and ongoing artifact stabilization and storage operations.

Biohazard Waste Disposal $50K/yr

[#12] Incineration contracts, hazardous waste transport, and decontamination consumables.

Life Support Operational $30K/yr

[#7] Fuel, generator maintenance, and life-support consumables for aquatic containment systems.

Biotech Rnd $0/yr

[#24] Optional long-term biotech/GMP R&D program; not included in the baseline recurring budget (highly variable if pursued).

⚡ Cost Scenarios

📊 Baseline (baseline) $11.5M/yr

85.0% probability / year

Normal year with scheduled campaigns, routine research, maintenance, enforcement, and readiness; no major incidents.

one_campaign_year stable_containment routine_maintenance

🚨 Minor Incident $13.7M/yr

8.0% probability / year +$2.2M vs baseline

Localized containment breach or civilian approach requiring emergency response, extra vessel days, repairs, and limited remediation.

attempted_retrieval localized_memetic_exposure equipment_loss_or_damage

🚨 Major Breach $41.2M/yr

2.0% probability / year +$29.8M vs baseline

Significant containment failure or geo-thaumic activation requiring widescale remediation, asset deployment, and large contingency spending.

full_containment_failure geo_thaumic_activation public_exposure

🚨 Research Scaleup $16.2M/yr

5.0% probability / year +$4.8M vs baseline

Decision to pursue aggressive biotech/GMP-scale R&D into SCP-5743-237's cellular properties (multi-year program ramp-up).

promising_aDNA_results lead_research_funding strategic_decision_to_exploit_biotech

👥 Personnel 35 total

Role	Count	Notes
Research Scientist	8	[#14] Senior and mid-level researchers in geophysics, anthropology, molecular biology, and thaumaturgic study (salaries included in staff_wages).
Research Technician	6	[#14, #11] Lab technicians, field techs, and sequencing support staff (salaries included in staff_wages).
Security Officer / MTF Agent	10	[#9] Armed guards and supervisors providing 24/7 coverage (headcount aligns with continuous shifts; wages included in staff_wages).
ROV Technician / Marine Crew Specialist	4	[#1, #2, #3] Specialists for vessel operations, ROV piloting, and maintenance for deployments.
Site Director / Executive Staff	1	[#14] Program/site leadership and liaison responsibilities.
Medical Officer	2	[#13] Medical monitoring, emergency response, and long-term care coordination for exposed personnel.
Engineer / Maintenance	2	[#7, #15] Facilities, life-support, and data/EMI systems maintenance staff.
Administrative Staff	2	[#18, #10] Administrative, cataloging, and cover-operations support personnel.

📋 Confidence Notes

Many line items are well-scoped (vessels, ROVs, lab builds) but several items are open-ended (biotech R&D, catastrophic remediation, contingency reserves) and depend heavily on campaign tempo and strategic choices, producing moderate confidence.

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