← SCP Cost Explorer Read on SCP Wiki ↗
SCP-8901 Unknown ? low confidence
SCP-8901
Expected annual
$25.9M
One-time setup
$98.1M
Annual recurring
$24.6M
Personnel
64
Initial one-time setup is estimated at roughly $98.1M driven mainly by R&D seed, vessel and equipment purchases, and base/lab construction; annual recurring operations are estimated at ~$24.6M/yr dominated by staff wages, ongoing R&D/monitoring, and logistics.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $98.1M
Initial Research And Lab Setup $41.2M
[#6, #5, #9, #15, #27] Reverse-engineering R&D program initial seed, laboratory instrumentation and vault setup (instruments portion), sample storage / cryo supplies initial setup, memetic-dampening fit-out, and archive/dataset procurement.
Equipment $18.5M
[#1, #7, #17, #18, #21, #13] Purchase/refit of one fast response vessel, UAV/ROV hardware, specialized optics/hyperspectral systems, robotics/remote manipulators, high-security containers/safes, and initial medical station equipment.
Strategic Denial Option $15.0M
[#25] One-time cost estimate for a small-to-moderate kinetic/denial operation (sea-floor demolition / limited strike) as a contingency; larger options could exceed this by an order of magnitude.
Facilities $13.2M
[#2, #5, #16, #23, #19] Permanent forward base construction/refit, structural portion of containment labs/vaults, long-term observation platform installation, generator installation, and mortuary facility buildout.
Reserve Seed $10.0M
[#20] Initial seed for catastrophic risk reserve / contingency fund to cover sudden escalations, rebuilds, or large settlements.
Vetting Setup $200K
[#22] One-time setup costs for personnel vetting program infrastructure (background system, polygraph setup, initial psychological screening contracts).
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $24.6M/yr
Research And Monitoring $8.4M/yr
[#6, #7, #14, #26, #27] Ongoing R&D program funding, satellite imagery contracts, UAV/ROV operational costs, specialist language/historical research missions, public-health / epidemiological baseline monitoring, and archive/dataset subscriptions/renewals.
Staff Wages $6.1M/yr
[#3, #4] Ongoing salaries and benefits for on-site security (maritime + base guards) and the multidisciplinary research team.
Logistics And Transport $2.4M/yr
[#1, #12, #21] Vessel maintenance & fuel (operations), helicopter/small-boat sortie budgets, and secure-transport/escort logistics for recovered materials.
Reserve Topup $2.0M/yr
[#20] Ongoing contributions to the contingency/catastrophic risk reserve.
Facilities Maintenance $1.9M/yr
[#2, #5, #16] Base operations/utilities, annual certification and maintenance of containment labs/vaults, and observation platform upkeep.
Cover Story And Legal $1.4M/yr
[#10, #11] Legal retainers/regulatory costs and covert cover operations (media suppression, PR, fabricated contractors).
Medical Care $550K/yr
[#13] Ongoing medical treatment, long-term monitoring, and psychiatric care for exposed personnel.
Energy Supply $550K/yr
[#23] Fuel, maintenance, and consumables for backup generators, and power logistics for offshore assets and lighting arrays.
Supplies And Consumables $500K/yr
[#8, #9, #17] Quarantine/decontamination consumables (PPE, filters), hazardous disposal recurring costs, and optics consumables/replacement filters.
Training Exercises $350K/yr
[#24] Regular full-scale exercises, simulations, and drills (maritime interdiction, memetic breach response).
Robotics Operations $325K/yr
[#18] Spare parts, operations and contractor support for robotic platforms and remote manipulators.
Personnel Monitoring $100K/yr
[#22] Ongoing vetting, psychological monitoring, and loyalty screening subscriptions/services.
Mortuary And Casualty Response $50K/yr
[#19] Baseline recurring budget for mortuary handling, forensic processing and discrete body handling; larger incident-driven costs handled ad-hoc.
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $24.6M/yr
85.0% probability / year
Normal year with continuous monitoring, containment operations, and no major incidents.
steady surveillance routine R&D and maintenance
🚨 Minor Incident $27.6M/yr
12.0% probability / year +$3.0M vs baseline
Localized breach or exposure requiring emergency extraction, limited legal settlement, and surge response.
localized breach sample contamination requiring cleanup small diplomatic/legal action
🚨 Major Breach $54.6M/yr
3.0% probability / year +$30.0M vs baseline
Significant containment failure or international exposure triggering major operations, settlement, or kinetic denial options.
large-scale exposure international legal/diplomatic crisis decision to neutralize/deny island access
👥 Personnel 64 total
Role Count Notes
Security Officer / MTF Agent 40 [#3] Combined maritime boarding teams and base guards; analyst range 12–24 maritime + 12–20 base -> chosen combined staffing of 40.
Research Scientist 24 [#4] Multidisciplinary research team (physicists, memetics researchers, historians, archaeologists, xenobiology, colorimetry); analyst range 15–30 FTE -> chosen 24.
📋 Confidence Notes
Estimates are low-confidence due to wide ranges given in analyst notes, fundamental uncertainties about island predictability, the feasibility and scale of reverse-engineering unknown memetic/optical tech, and the possible need for politically costly kinetic options.
← SCP-8900 ↑ All SCPs SCP-8902 →