SCP-6285 — SCP-6285 | Cost Breakdown

Read on SCP Wiki ↗

SCP-6285 Safe ~ medium confidence

SCP-6285

Expected annual

$7.6M

One-time setup

$11.9M

Annual recurring

$7.3M

Personnel

One-time capital and reserve costs are substantial (~$11.9M) driven by legal/insurance reserves and initial facility/lab/equipment purchases; annual recurring costs (~$6.1M/yr) are dominated by personnel, PR/legal/covert operations, security, and repair/monitoring programs.

🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $11.9M

Insurance Reserve Initial $4.4M

[#23] Initial insurance/reserve fund set aside to cover catastrophic failure, large compensation and cleanup costs.

Legal Reserve Fund Initial $3.4M

[#6] Initial legal/contingency/indemnity reserve fund for lawsuits, settlements, permissions and catastrophic compensation.

Initial Research And Lab Setup $1.2M

[#2] BSL-2 wet lab benches, biological safety cabinet(s), basic radiochemistry capability (alpha/beta counters, gamma spectrometer), sample cold storage and lab build-out.

Facilities $875K

[#1] Secure coastal site near Dover: renovation/lease and hardening for offices, storage, small lab benchspace, PPE lockers and staging for boats/scaffolding. One-time facility capital.

Erosion R&D Program Fund $875K

[#19] Initial funding for multi-year R&D program into long-term erosion mitigation and biological suppression strategies.

Boats And Maritime Equipment $312K

[#7] Purchase of a primary workboat and RIBs for crew transfer; hull outfitting and initial safety equipment.

Remote Platforms And Sensors $219K

[#8] Purchase of drones/ROVs/LIDAR equipment and initial sensor suites for nearshore monitoring and cliff inspection.

Front Organization Setup $156K

[#5] One-time costs to establish front organisations and cover identities to support disinformation campaign continuity.

Repair Materials R&D $144K

[#10] R&D/formulation trials for facsimile cliff-fill material (synthetic 'chalk') pilot batches and testing.

Vehicles Purchase $100K

[#18] Purchase of 2–4 land vehicles and a trailer for transport of scaffolding/materials.

Visual Camouflage Initial $75K

[#22] Initial cosmetic program to match patched areas to cliff face and manage visitor viewpoints.

Autoclave And Ppe Initial $62K

[#14] Purchase of on-site autoclave and initial stock of PPE (gowns, respirators, suits) for decontamination.

Radiation Licensing And Equipment One Time $38K

[#15] One-time radiation compliance costs (initial licensing fees) and purchase of survey meters / basic radiological instrumentation.

Media Tooling Initial $38K

[#21] Tooling/templates and initial development for media monitoring/rapid-response misinformation toolkit.

Equipment $0

[]

🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $7.3M/yr

Cover Story And Legal $2.7M/yr

[#5, #6, #20, #21, #22, #23] Ongoing disinformation/media buys, legal retainers/insurance premiums, covert placements funding, media buys and upkeep of public-facing camouflage efforts and insurance premiums.

Staff Wages $750K/yr

[#3] Salaries for scientific staff (microbiologists, radiochemist, geomicrobiologist), field technicians and boat operators (6–10 FTEs).

Covert Staffing $719K/yr

[#20] Ongoing funding for embedded placements and covert staff inside geological agencies, media and NGOs to support the cover story.

Administrative Overheads $654K/yr

[#25] Back-office HR, procurement, payroll and covert accounting estimated at ~12% of recurring program spend.

Security And Patrols $450K/yr

[#4] CCTV/drones, patrols and local rapid-response security team to enforce the 500m exclusion zone; mixed minimal/continuous staffing option assumed.

Supplies And Consumables $400K/yr

[#2, #12, #14] Laboratory consumables/calibration (£150k–£350k range), bleaching chemical supply and application consumables, and ongoing PPE replacement/laundering/disposal.

Repair Operations $312K/yr

[#11] Annual recurring repair campaigns: rope-access teams, scaffolding/rigging mobilization and contractor installation labour.

Research And Monitoring $288K/yr

[#9, #8] Continuous monitoring program: field sampling, isotope assays and contracted aerial/LIDAR/satellite surveys and periodic gamma/alpha surveys.

Insurance Premiums $250K/yr

[#23] Annual insurance premiums for catastrophic failure coverage (variable depending on underwriting).

Media Monitoring And Buys $188K/yr

[#21] Annual media buys, placement costs and subscriptions for social listening and rapid-response narrative deployment.

Facilities Maintenance $162K/yr

[#1] Annual lease/maintenance and site security hardening upkeep for the Dover operations base.

Waste Management $100K/yr

[#13] Licensed radioactive and biohazard waste handling, packaging, transport and disposal costs (U-235 elevated samples, contaminated PPE).

Logistics And Transport $94K/yr

[#7, #18] Annual fuel/maintenance for boats and running costs for land vehicles and trailers.

Repair Materials Installed $62K/yr

[#10] Annual cost for materials installed (facsimile chalk) given expected volumetric repairs (mid-range estimate for 50–500 m³/year).

Emergency Response $62K/yr

[#17] Contracts / mutual aid standby and regular exercises for cliff collapse rescue, medevac and spill response.

Bleaching Operations $50K/yr

[#12] Annual hydrogen peroxide purchase, applicator hire and environmental monitoring for discolouration treatment.

Environmental Liaison $50K/yr

[#16] Ongoing stakeholder management, permits and liaison with conservation bodies and local authorities.

Visual Camouflage Upkeep $38K/yr

[#22] Ongoing upkeep and cosmetic repairs to patched areas visible to tourists.

Training And Certification $31K/yr

[#24] Annual rope-access, HAZMAT, radiological safety and first-aid certification for field teams.

Radiation Program Recurring $25K/yr

[#15] Annual dosimetry program, instrument calibration and ongoing licensing/compliance costs for radiological work.

⚡ Cost Scenarios

📊 Baseline (baseline) $7.3M/yr

84.5% probability / year

Normal year with routine monitoring, maintenance, and no major incidents.

routine monitoring scheduled repair campaigns standard PR/legal activities

🚨 Minor Incident $6.6M/yr

12.0% probability / year +$-743750 vs baseline

Localized spike in erosion/discolouration requiring extra repair campaign(s), emergency call-outs and elevated monitoring.

localized erosion spike additional repair mobilization extra waste disposal & PR response

🚨 Major Breach $11.1M/yr

3.0% probability / year +$3.8M vs baseline

Large cliff section collapses with property damage and public exposure requiring extensive repairs, compensation and legal action.

large collapse public casualties / property claims major reputational/PR response

🚨 Catastrophic Event $46.1M/yr

0.5% probability / year +$38.8M vs baseline

Severe channel earthquake/tsunami or analogous event causing mass casualties, major coastline loss and international crisis response.

major earthquake/tsunami mass casualty & infrastructure loss national/international emergency response

👥 Personnel 8 total

Role	Count	Notes
Research Scientist	3	[#3] Microbiologists/radiochemist/geomicrobiologist conducting assays, dating and mitigation research.
Field Technician	2	[#3] Field sampling, cliff inspections, and support for repair/monitoring operations.
Boat Operator	1	[#3] Crew and vessel operations for nearshore access and sample collection.
Lab Technician	1	[#3] On-site sample processing, cold storage management and basic radiochemistry support.
Administrative Staff	1	[#3] HR, procurement and local administrative support for the program.

📋 Confidence Notes

Notes provide detailed line items and reasonable ranges, allowing mid-range budgeting; however large uncertainties remain in annual volumetric repair needs, radiological activity (which scales disposal/licensing costs), and the low-frequency high-impact geophysical events, so final figures carry moderate uncertainty.

← SCP-6284 ↑ All SCPs SCP-6286 →