SCP-729 — SCP-729 | Cost Breakdown

Read on SCP Wiki ↗

SCP-729 Safe ~ medium confidence

SCP-729

Expected annual

$288K

One-time setup

$374K

Annual recurring

$282K

Personnel

4.2

Initial capital/setup is moderate (~$374,000) driven by chamber build-out, robotics, and lab fit-out; recurring annual costs are dominated by staff wages, biohazard disposal, research, and utilities (~$282,500/yr).

🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $374K

Initial Research And Lab Setup $115K

[#7, #15] Specialized pathology/sample-processing equipment + initial research budget and lab fit-out (centrifuges, cold room, autopsy table, initial studies).

Facilities $50K

[#1] Secure containment chamber build-out (plumbing, sealed floor/drainage, viewing port, reinforced door); lean estimate used.

Robotic Extraction $50K

[#6] Robotic arm/hoist and specialized retrieval tooling to remove incapacitated bathers/organs remotely.

Contingency Reserve $50K

[#19] Contingency reserve for replacement/repair/refurbishment if SCP-729 modifies containment surfaces or atmosphere.

Wastewater Treatment $20K

[#2] Stainless-steel holding tanks, agitation, pumps, valves, isolation controls to prevent raw organic material entering municipal sewage.

Negative Pressure Install $20K

[#4] Installation cost for negative-pressure ventilation and HEPA filtration.

Robotic Cleaning System $20K

[#20] Automated rinse/UV sterilization/robotic washer system to avoid human exposure between tests.

Legal Initial $20K

[#14] Initial legal/cover-story/liaison costs (records suppression, initial settlements, retrieval cover handling).

Cold Storage One Time $10K

[#8] Ultra-low and standard freezers for preserved samples (purchase/install).

Stone Repair Or Replacement $10K

[#18] Reserve for professional stone repair/cleaning or partial tub replacement due to discoloration/porous staining.

Sample Archiving Initial $5K

[#22] Initial biobank/cataloguing setup for archived samples.

Cctv Install $4K

[#5] One-time CCTV / remote monitoring install and secure camera/audio hardware.

Equipment $0

[]

🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $282K/yr

Staff Wages $170K/yr

[#10, #11] On-call medical/forensic personnel and security staffing (minimal backup team: 2techs + 0.2 FTE pathologist/medic; 2 full-time guards).

Research And Monitoring $32K/yr

[#15, #25] Ongoing follow-up research budget (~$30,000/yr) plus periodic long-term monitoring/inspections (~$1,500/yr).

Human Subjects Surrogate Program $20K/yr

[#24] Optional surrogate-testing program (animal/vetted surrogate usage, vet care, compensation/legal safeguards).

Administrative Overhead $15K/yr

[#23] Site management, procurement, safety committee time and administrative support (0.1–0.5 FTE equivalent).

Logistics And Transport $6K/yr

[#3] Recurring biohazard disposal contract (estimated 4 events/year at ~$1,500/event).

Facilities Maintenance $5K/yr

[#1, #18] Routine chamber and finish maintenance, periodic refurbishment of sealed floors/drains and minor repairs.

Cover Story And Legal $5K/yr

[#14] Ongoing liaison with local authorities, legal maintenance, occasional settlements or records management.

Psychological Counseling $5K/yr

[#12] Pre/post-exposure screening, counseling and rotation to mitigate compulsion/stress.

Staff Training And Drills $5K/yr

[#13] SOP training, emergency retrieval, PPE don/doff and safety drill expenses.

Supplies And Consumables $3K/yr

[#9] PPE, decontamination supplies, biohazard bags, disinfectants and consumables for small dedicated team.

Ethical Compliance Auditing $3K/yr

[#16] Record-keeping, audits and compliance overhead.

Emergency Medical Evacuations $3K/yr

[#17] Mortuary/evacuation costs per event; baseline assumes occasional event (~$3k/yr).

Energy And Utilities $3K/yr

[#21] Increased water usage, pumps, negative pressure, waste heating and other utilities.

Sample Archiving Recurring $2K/yr

[#22] Ongoing biobank storage fees, cataloguing and security for archived samples.

Cctv Storage It $2K/yr

[#5] Video/audio storage, secure IT retention and audit logging costs.

Stone Maintenance $2K/yr

[#18] Periodic professional stone cleaning, sealing, odor control; avoids long-term discoloration/staining.

Negative Pressure Filters $1K/yr

[#4] HEPA filter replacements and periodic ventilation maintenance.

Cold Storage Energy $1K/yr

[#8] Energy cost for freezers and cold-room operation.

Robotic Cleaning Maintenance $1K/yr

[#20] Maintenance and minor repairs for robotic/automated cleaning systems.

⚡ Cost Scenarios

📊 Baseline (baseline) $282K/yr

94.0% probability / year

Normal year with no major incidents; routine testing cadence and standard operations.

routine_testing no_incident

🚨 Minor Incident $332K/yr

5.0% probability / year +$50K vs baseline

Single test fatality or contamination requiring extra disposal, mortuary services, legal/liaison response, and limited repairs.

test_fatality localized_contamination

🚨 Major Breach $532K/yr

1.0% probability / year +$250K vs baseline

Significant containment failure or public exposure requiring full refurbishment, contingency reserve use, extended legal action and intensive remediation.

major_contamination public_exposure containment_refurbishment

👥 Personnel 4.2 total

Role	Count	Notes
Security Officer / MTF Agent	2	[#11] Two full-time guards to provide physical security and access control.
Research Technician / Lab Tech	2	[#10] Two full-time technicians for specimen handling, sample prep and routine testing.
Pathologist / Medical Officer	0.2	[#10] On-call pathologist/medic at ~0.2 FTE for autopsies/forensic supervision; paid-per-event or fractional FTE.

📋 Confidence Notes

Analyst notes provide specific line-item ranges and sensible defaults, enabling moderate-to-high fidelity estimates for equipment and recurring costs; uncertainty remains around test cadence, legal exposure, and incidence rates, so confidence is set to medium.

← SCP-728 ↑ All SCPs SCP-730 →