SCP-7242 — SCP-7242 | Cost Breakdown

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SCP-7242 Neutralized ~ medium confidence

SCP-7242

Expected annual

$4.2M

One-time setup

$11.4M

Annual recurring

$4.1M

Personnel

One-time setup and contingency costs are substantial (~$11.4M) driven by containment construction, deep‑sea salvage equipment (ROV) and a general contingency fund; recurring operations run about $3.94M/yr driven primarily by MTF staffing, charter/reserve budgets, research and archival maintenance.

🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $11.4M

Facilities $3.0M

[#10] Containment cell / secure lab construction one-time buildout (sensory isolation, redundant HVAC, decon airlocks, Faraday options).

Salvage Per Recovery Event $2.0M

[#8] Per-recovery salvage & deep-water recovery operations contingency (per event heavy-lift/deep-oceanic work).

Contingency Fund Catastrophic $2.0M

[#20] Catastrophic contingency fund set-aside for very large incident-driven costs.

Equipment $1.3M

[#2, #7] Air-gapped secure server and classified terminal setup (one-time) and capital purchase of deep-sea ROV(s) and support equipment.

Initial Research And Lab Setup $1.0M

[#14] Memetic / cognitive-safety lab instrumentation and initial research lab setup (filtered viewing rooms, signal-blocking, safe testing protocols).

Legal Diplomatic Incident Contingency $500K

[#15] Per-incident legal/diplomatic contingency (settlements, negotiation with flag/coastal states).

Environmental Remediation Contingency $500K

[#17] Environmental remediation contingency per incident (fuel/hazardous materials clean-up).

Forensic Investigation Per Event $300K

[#9] Forensic marine survey and scientific investigation (per investigation specialist costs).

Opportunity Costs Reserve Per Incident $300K

[#22] Per-incident reserve for opportunity costs / economic disruption (fisheries, shipping exclusions).

Cover Opsec Reserve $250K

[#16] Cover/OPSEC and public relations reserve for controlled disclosure or emergency cover operations.

Medical Quarantine Setup $100K

[#13] Medical and quarantine facility setup and equipment (one-time setup for decontamination and quarantine suites).

Field Transport Per Event $75K

[#12] Field transport and secure logistics per recovery (per-transport event: specialized containers, air freight, customs, armed transport).

Translation And Digitization $40K

[#21] One-time translation, declassification review and digitization of archival material.

🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $4.1M/yr

Staff Wages $2.1M/yr

[#1, #4, #13, #14, #21, #3] Payroll for on-call MTF specialists, memetics/cognitive researchers, archivist(s), medical staff, archival analysts, and cybersecurity personnel (salary components separated here).

Charter Reserve $500K/yr

[#6] On-call search & recovery asset budget (charter model) for seasonal vessel/helicopter hire and short-notice availability.

Logistics And Transport $200K/yr

[#4, #12] Non-payroll MTF readiness ops costs and training travel stipends; routine logistics reserve (excludes per-event transport contingency).

Mtf Training $200K/yr

[#5] MTF training, exercises, memetic-safety recertification, and dive/salvage drills (facilities, instructors, consumables).

Research And Monitoring $150K/yr

[#14] Recurring memetic/cognitive-safety program non-payroll costs (consumables, instrumentation upkeep, protocol testing).

Cover Story And Legal $150K/yr

[#15] Legal/diplomatic retainer and annual support for negotiations, counsel, and permit maintenance.

Long Term Storage And Conservation $150K/yr

[#11] Long-term climate-controlled storage lease, monitoring, anti-corrosion treatments and conservation work.

Legal And Diplomatic $150K/yr

[#15] Annual legal/diplomatic retainer and routine permit/negotiation costs (non-incident).

Supplies And Consumables $100K/yr

[#18] Consumables, spare parts, diving gases, ROV spares, batteries, PPE, sample media and routine replacements.

Insurance And Liability $100K/yr

[#20] Annual insurance premiums and liability reserves for salvage operations and personnel coverage.

Medical And Psychiatric $80K/yr

[#13] Ongoing medical/psychiatric care and treatments (non-payroll portion; staffing payroll in staff_wages).

Facilities Maintenance $70K/yr

[#1] Archival storage maintenance, climate control and facility overhead (non-payroll portion of archival maintenance).

Energy Utilities $60K/yr

[#19] Electricity and utilities for archival climate control, lab HVAC, monitored storage, and UPS.

Periodic Audit And Compliance $40K/yr

[#23] Periodic external audits, environmental compliance checks and classified program oversight.

Cybersecurity And Access Control $30K/yr

[#3] Ongoing cybersecurity, access-control monitoring, penetration testing and classified archive IT upkeep (non-payroll contractors/ops).

Archival Analyst Support $0/yr

[#21] Ongoing archival analyst payroll moved into staff_wages; no additional non-payroll cost assigned here.

⚡ Cost Scenarios

📊 Baseline (baseline) $4.1M/yr

94.0% probability / year

Normal year with archive maintenance, minimal MTF readiness, charter reserve and routine research; no recovery events or major incidents.

no_wreck_discovery routine_archive_updates scheduled_training

🚨 Minor Incident $5.0M/yr

5.0% probability / year +$875K vs baseline

Shallow/nearshore wreck discovered requiring single small salvage, forensic investigation, transport and limited legal/remediation response.

nearshore_wreck_found limited_salvage_required minor_environmental_impact

🚨 Major Salvage Operation $14.9M/yr

1.0% probability / year +$10.8M vs baseline

Deep/oceanic heavy-lift salvage and possible containment buildout following discovery of anomalous wreckage.

deep_ocean_wreck heavy_lift_required containment_or_large_remediation

👥 Personnel 20 total

Role	Count	Notes
Security Officer / MTF Agent	12	[#4] On-call rapid-response MTF specialists with diving/salvage experience, medics, memetics specialists and team leadership.
Research Scientist	4	[#14] Memetics / cognitive scientists and research staff supporting memetic-safety program.
Archivist / Records Manager	1	[#1] Full-time archivist and records manager for SCP-7242 file set.
Medical Officer / Psychiatrist	1	[#13] Medical and psychiatric support staff for immediate and long-term care (payroll portion in staff_wages).
Cybersecurity / IT Specialist	1	[#2, #3] IT support and classified terminal / air-gapped server maintenance and monitoring.
Administrative Staff	1	[#1, #4] Administrative support for records and MTF coordination.

📋 Confidence Notes

Estimates are grounded in the analyst notes and canonical containment status (Neutralized), but event-driven one-time costs and incident frequencies are highly uncertain; ranges required many midpoint judgments.

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