SCP-771 Keter ? low confidence
SCP-771
Expected annual
$33.0M
One-time setup
$186.6M
Annual recurring
$31.4M
Personnel
30
Initial containment and specialized non-metallic construction and equipment are the dominant one-time costs (~$187M). Recurring costs are driven by sustained research programs, specialized staff, security and contingency/reserve needs (~$31.35M/yr).
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $186.6M
Facilities $80.0M
[#1] Hardened, isolated non-metallic primary containment structure; site selection and remote siting (island/desert); non-metal airlocks and negative-pressure zones; construction/retrofit costs.
Breach Mitigation Reserve $50.0M
[#25] One-time large mitigation/reserve fund to enable rapid infrastructure replacement, civil compensation and emergency infrastructure work in a worst-case regional escape.
Backup Site Construction $20.0M
[#21] One additional redundant containment site buildout (per-item estimate for a single secondary non-metallic site as disaster redundancy).
Insurance Reserve One Time $20.0M
[#16] Initial contingency/insurance reserve fund set aside because commercial insurance may not underwrite full risk; seed capital for self-insurance.
Equipment $11.1M
[#2, #3, #4, #5, #11, #14, #17, #22] Initial purchase and installation of non-metallic HVAC internals and filtration (#2), UPS/protected power interface routing and protections (#3 initial), non-metallic manipulators/robotic platforms (#4 initial), high-resolution sensor suite and fiber-optic monitoring hardware (#5 initial), emergency/mobile response equipment (#11 initial), secure data hardware/vault setup (#14 initial), initial physical security hardware (#17 initial), and hardened/air-gapped communications hardware (#22 initial).
Initial Research And Lab Setup $3.5M
[#7] Biohazard lab buildout, cold storage, initial high-end microscopy / mass-spectrometry / cleanroom outfitting to enable safe sampling and study (initial capital for BSL-3/4-equivalent non-metal-capable labs).
Legal Coverup One Time $2.0M
[#15] Initial payments, relocation/severance, and immediate legal/compensation expenditures required during site acquisition/closure or immediate containment-related relocations.
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $31.4M/yr
Research And Monitoring $12.0M/yr
[#7, #12, #13, #24, #27] Ongoing research programs: microbot composition & neutralization research (#12), host tissue degeneration/stabilization programs (#13), operational lab ops (#7), continuous behavioral/lifecycle monitoring (#24), and R&D into capture/inhibitor technologies (#27).
Staff Wages $6.0M/yr
[#9] Salaries and benefits for core on-site personnel (estimated 20–50 FTEs; used midpoint staffing model).
Cover Story And Legal $2.0M/yr
[#15] Ongoing legal fees, PR/cover-story maintenance, payments/compensation and liaison with local authorities to maintain secrecy and manage displaced parties.
Backup Sites Maintenance $2.0M/yr
[#21] Ongoing maintenance and readiness costs for secondary/tertiary containment sites.
Physical Security $1.5M/yr
[#17] 24/7 on-site security staffing, credentialing systems, access control and armed response readiness with bio-threat training.
Misc Capital Reserve $1.5M/yr
[#29] Annual reserve for unforeseen retrofits, unexpected replacements and emergent engineering changes due to microbot behavior.
Insurance And Liability Premiums $1.0M/yr
[#16] Annual premiums or cost-of-capital for maintaining liability reserves/insurance-like fund.
Supplies And Consumables $950K/yr
[#8, #19] Specialized PPE (non-metal zippers/fasteners, single-use liners), laboratory consumables, reagents, replacement filters and small consumables.
Emergency Response Standby $800K/yr
[#11] Standby costs for mobile rapid-response team, vehicles, equipment readiness and on-call personnel.
Facilities Maintenance $600K/yr
[#2, #5] HVAC operation and maintenance (non-metallic HVAC units, filtration replacement), sensor maintenance overlap and general facility upkeep.
Robotics Maintenance $600K/yr
[#4] Maintenance, spare parts and specialized servicing for non-metallic remote manipulators and robotic maintenance platforms.
Decontamination And Incineration $500K/yr
[#20] Regular hazardous waste disposal, incineration runs, chemical neutralization and ash handling for contaminated metal/tissue.
Power And Backups $400K/yr
[#3] Fuel, UPS maintenance and periodic sacrificial-interface servicing related to redundant power provisioning and backups.
Communications And Cybersecurity $300K/yr
[#22] Air-gapped network maintenance, encrypted telemetry costs, penetration testing and OPSEC operations.
Public Health Surveillance $300K/yr
[#23] Wildlife and livestock monitoring in exclusion zones, animal control, and compensation for affected local stakeholders.
Training And Drills $200K/yr
[#10] Ongoing training, simulations, tabletop exercises and drills for remote operations, breach response and local authority coordination.
Non Metallic Transport $200K/yr
[#18] Recurring costs for non-metallic transfer containers, sleds, specialized transport procedures and chain-of-custody logistics.
Ethical Oversight And Audits $150K/yr
[#26] Independent ethical review, external audits and compliance reporting.
Psychological Support $150K/yr
[#28] Counseling services, rotation programs and mental-health support for staff working on a high-stress Keter object.
Sacrificial Metal Caches $100K/yr
[#6] Procurement, monitoring and disposal of controlled sacrificial metal caches placed inside containment.
Secure Data Storage $100K/yr
[#14] Long-term storage, air-gapped backups, audits and evidence handling for experimental data and tamper-evident logs.
Logistics And Transport $0/yr
[]
Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $31.4M/yr
87.5% probability / year
Normal year with steady operations, routine research, and no major containment incidents.
routine_operations scheduled_research_and_maintenance
🚨 Minor Incident $33.4M/yr
10.0% probability / year +$2.0M vs baseline
Localized microbot release within containment causing limited tissue harvesting, repairs and targeted decontamination.
localized_swarm_release containment_hardware_failure minor_personnel_exposure
🚨 Major Breach $51.4M/yr
2.0% probability / year +$20.0M vs baseline
Significant escape requiring site evacuation, regional infrastructure repairs and major legal/compensation outlays.
partial_containment_breach local_infrastructure_damage public_exposure
🚨 Catastrophic Breach $231.3M/yr
0.5% probability / year +$200.0M vs baseline
Widespread regional escape with cascading damage to civil infrastructure requiring major national-level mitigation and long-term recovery funding.
uncontrolled_swarm_spillover critical_infrastructure_failure mass_public_exposure
👥 Personnel 30 total
Role Count Notes
Research Scientist 6 [#9] Senior scientists leading microbot and tissue research; fully loaded FTEs.
Laboratory Technician 10 [#9] Lab techs, sample handling and BSL operations; 24/7 coverage via shifts.
Engineer / Robotics 4 [#9] Containment engineers and robotics/maintenance engineers to run non-metallic manipulators and facility systems.
Security Officer / MTF Agent 8 [#9, #17] On-site armed/security personnel to maintain 24/7 perimeter and rapid response.
Site Director / Administrative Staff 2 [#9] Management, admin, logistics and liaison functions.
📋 Confidence Notes
Estimates cover a wide range of technical unknowns (non-metallic engineering, microbot behavior, and societal/legal response). Many cost items (breach mitigation, insurance, legal/compensation) are highly uncertain and scenario-dependent, so overall confidence is low despite detailed line-item estimates.
← SCP-770 ↑ All SCPs SCP-772 →