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SCP-791 Safe ~ medium confidence
SCP-791
Expected annual
$1.5M
One-time setup
$2.2M
Annual recurring
$1.4M
Personnel
10
One-time capital of $2,241,000 largely driven by contingency upgrades and installed equipment (tanks, pumps, filtration, handling rigging); recurring annual costs of $1,402,000 are driven by staff wages, ongoing research/analytics, emergency/reserve funding, and disposal/logistics.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $2.2M
Contingency Upgrade Capital $1.0M
[#26] Containment upgrade contingency for larger-than-expected drained volumes or behavior (capital project reserve for major expansions).
Equipment $401K
[#2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #8, #9, #10, #11, #21] Storage tanks/reservoirs, redundant pumping/piping, filtration screens + backflush subsystem, wide-weave steel mesh bag, handling rigging/gantry, monitoring sensors & automation, UPS/backup generator, HVAC/humidity upgrades, quarantine life-support tanks, and initial IT/server setup.
Facilities $380K
[#1, #7] Sealed containment room, reinforced sump, secondary berms, sealed access doors, structural floor reinforcement and post-installation load testing.
Initial Research And Lab Setup $250K
[#12] Purchase and installation of ICP-MS / ion chromatography and other analytical instruments for in-house water/ isotope/chemistry analysis (alternative is recurring outsourcing).
Waste Treatment Plant $200K
[#17] Onsite hazardous waste / backwash treatment capacity (onsite treatment plant capital cost).
Initial Ppe And Decon Stock $10K
[#16] Initial PPE, decontamination supplies and replacement filter media stock.
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $1.4M/yr
Staff Wages $670K/yr
[#13, #14, #15] Containment technicians (3 FTEs @ $60k = $180k), research staff (2 senior @ $110k + 1 junior @ $70k = $290k), security (4 FTEs @ $50k = $200k).
Research And Monitoring $286K/yr
[#12, #25, #27] Ongoing in-house/outsourced analytical sampling & specialized tests (~$36k/yr), and multi-year research program (~$250k/yr).
Cover Story And Legal $100K/yr
[#20] Legal, public-relations, cover-story and records management budget.
Emergency Response And Contingency Fund $100K/yr
[#18] Annual reserve for incident response, contractor callouts, emergency repairs, weekend labor and drills.
Insurance $40K/yr
[#23] Property, liability and environmental insurance premiums.
Waste Disposal $30K/yr
[#17] Contractor disposal fees and offsite hazardous waste handling / incineration estimates.
Replacement And Refurbishment $30K/yr
[#24] Amortized replacement reserve for pumps, screens, mesh bag, seals, sensors and major component overhauls.
Administrative And Auditing $25K/yr
[#29] Containment documentation, chain-of-custody management and periodic internal audits.
Supplies And Consumables $24K/yr
[#4, #11, #16] Ongoing consumables: replacement filter media/screen elements/backflush consumables, quarantine life-support consumables, PPE replacement and decon supplies.
Training And Drills $20K/yr
[#22] Annual safety drills, confined-space and hazardous materials training.
Medical And Psych Support $20K/yr
[#28] Psychological counseling, medical screening and neuropsychological evaluations for staff.
Public Health Monitoring $20K/yr
[#30] Downstream environmental and public health monitoring in case of accidental release.
Logistics And Transport $15K/yr
[#19] Transport and specialised relocation (crane truck, heavy transport, climate-controlled vans) — typical assumed frequency = 1 major move/year at ~$15k.
Facilities Maintenance $12K/yr
[#8, #9, #10] Sensor calibration/maintenance, generator fuel & maintenance (~$5k/yr), HVAC energy/maintenance (~$5k/yr) and small recurring upkeep.
It And Data Ops $10K/yr
[#21] Ongoing secure server operations, backups, cyber-security and periodic penetration testing.
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $1.4M/yr
88.0% probability / year
Normal year with routine maintenance, staffing, research, and occasional small consumable usage; no major incidents or capital projects.
routine_operations standard_draining_frequency
🚨 Minor Incident $1.6M/yr
10.0% probability / year +$150K vs baseline
Short draining event or limited flooding requiring contractor disposal, overtime, extra transport and repair parts.
short_draining_event minor_flooding outsourced_disposal
🚨 Major Breach $3.4M/yr
2.0% probability / year +$2.0M vs baseline
Extended high-volume draining or biological/containment failure requiring major capital upgrades, large-scale disposal, heavy transport and multi-week response.
long_multi-month_draining large_volume_exceeded_design biohazardous_release
👥 Personnel 10 total
Role Count Notes
Containment Technician 3 3 FTEs for 24/7 access and routine maintenance (#13).
Research Scientist 2 Senior xenobiologist/marine biologist/analytical scientist (#14).
Data Analyst / Research Technician 1 Junior data analyst to support tests and data management (#14).
Security Officer / MTF Agent 4 Minimal 24/7 security coverage (~4 FTEs) for access control and incident response (#15).
📋 Confidence Notes
Detailed line-item estimates exist for most equipment and staffing, but large uncertainty remains around drained volume/frequency and biological risk which can drive multi-million dollar variability; therefore medium confidence.
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