SCP-8983 Unknown ~ medium confidence
SCP-8983
Expected annual
$563K
One-time setup
$170K
Annual recurring
$548K
Personnel
2
One-time setup and equipment costs are modest (~$170k) driven by soundproofing, monitoring, and research lab setup; recurring costs are dominated by personnel, research, counseling, and large contingency reserves (~$542k/yr).
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $170K
Initial Research And Lab Setup $85K
[#10, #11, #14, #17, #18, #22, #26] Baseline audiometric tests (initial), psychological pre-screening (initial), audio research lab buildout (DAq, headphones, booths) and EEG purchases, initial background checks, cover-story/legal package development (initial), SOP development, and an initial experimental mapping campaign.
Equipment $56K
[#4, #5, #6, #9, #20, #21, #25] Acoustic monitoring & sensors, CCTV/tamper sensors & UPS, access control hardware, initial stock of electronic hearing-protection units, sound-isolated transport container, robotic/remote manipulation tools, and communications hardening hardware (one-time purchases).
Facilities $26K
[#1, #2, #3] Primary acoustic containment box, HVAC/ventilation muffler and climate control (one-time portion), and a redundant secondary containment box; construction/fabrication and ducting/silencer work.
Site Selection And Relocation $3K
[#19] Administrative/site-selection mitigation cost assuming an appropriate site is chosen; full relocation of psychiatric facilities would be far larger but is treated as a low-probability, high-cost contingency.
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $548K/yr
Worst Case Mitigation Reserve $200K/yr
[#30] Long-run reserve allocation for low-probability/high-impact events (mass psychological incident, large-scale hospitalizations, external consultants, quarantine and legal/regulatory costs).
Staff Wages $115K/yr
[#7] Two full-time equivalent assigned custodial/monitoring staff (salary+benefits), per analyst estimate.
Research And Monitoring $74K/yr
[#4, #10, #14, #15, #16, #22, #23] Ongoing acoustic monitoring storage/maintenance, annual audiometric testing, outsourced imaging/advanced studies budget and participant compensation program, secure data storage, SOP training refreshers, and regular compliance audits.
Liability Reserve $50K/yr
[#24] Annual reserve allocation for medical/legal/rehabilitation costs and potential litigation/cover-up expenses.
Counseling And Mental Health $30K/yr
[#12] Ongoing counseling, crisis intervention and post-exposure mental-health support budget.
Opportunity Costs $25K/yr
[#29] Budgeted planning allowance for productivity adjustments, replacements for excluded staff, overtime and administrative reassignment costs.
Suicide Prevention And Medical Readiness $18K/yr
[#13] Suicide-prevention contingency funds, hotline, and increased clinician/medical readiness.
Incident Response $15K/yr
[#8] Annual training/drills and incremental on-call pay for the rapid retrieval/response team.
Cover Story And Legal $7K/yr
[#17, #18, #27] Background-check renewals/legal review, cover-story maintenance, and annual redaction/legal handling of recorded tracks.
Compliance Audits $6K/yr
[#23] Independent psychological/safety reviews and periodic containment compliance audits.
Supplies And Consumables $4K/yr
[#9, #28] Replacement hearing-protection units/consumables, foam linings, filters, batteries and small repairs/consumables.
Logistics And Transport $2K/yr
[#20] Per-transfer transport costs averaged over a year (assumes infrequent transfers plus container maintenance).
Communications Maintenance $1K/yr
[#25] Maintenance for hardened internal notification/secure communications systems.
Facilities Maintenance $1K/yr
[#2, #5, #6] HVAC/ventilation electricity and minor maintenance, surveillance power draw, and card-system maintenance.
Psychological Screening Renewals $1K/yr
[#11] Annual/periodic psychological re-screening and enforcement of exclusion criteria.
Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $548K/yr
89.0% probability / year
Normal year with routine monitoring, staffing, research activity and reserve contributions; no major incidents.
routine_operations scheduled_research no_incidents
🚨 Minor Incident $592K/yr
10.0% probability / year +$44K vs baseline
Localized exposure or unauthorized removal leading to short-term medical/psychological treatment, equipment repairs, and legal/admin work.
unauthorized_removal equipment_failure single exposure_event
🚨 Catastrophic Psychological Event $1.5M/yr
1.0% probability / year +$994K vs baseline
Severe incident(s) causing suicides or mass psychological harm requiring large-scale medical, legal, quarantine, and public-relations responses.
mass_exposure multiple_suicide_events regulatory_or_public_exposure
👥 Personnel 2 total
Role Count Notes
Custodial/Monitoring Staff 2 [#7] Two full-time equivalents assigned to containment/monitoring (salary and benefits reflected in staff_wages). Additional on-call responders and researchers are drawn from other site teams and funded through separate recurring line items.
📋 Confidence Notes
Containment hardware and basic staffing costs are well described (medium confidence). Large uncertainties remain in frequency/severity of psychological incidents and reserves required for catastrophic events, so contingency/reserve values are judgment-based.
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