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SCP-983 Safe ~ medium confidence
SCP-983
Expected annual
$383K
One-time setup
$281K
Annual recurring
$377K
Personnel
1.25
One-time startup ~ $281,000 to build containment, buy/customize equipment, and fund initial research; main recurring drivers are research/staffing, medical standby, legal/PR, and equipment replacement, totaling ~$376,900/yr.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $281K
Initial Research And Lab Setup $125K
[#8, #22] Initial chemical/biological/physical analysis campaign (initial battery) (#8); Long-term research program setup (pilot program initial setup) (#22).
Equipment $61K
[#2, #3, #5, #6, #7, #15, #20, #23] Biometric access/dev work (dev portion) (#2); Emergency Kit 135r production and spares (#3); Monitoring/sensor suite & redundant CCTV purchase (#5); Candy-capture / bell-trap device fabrication (#6); Shielded EM-proof evidence safe (#7); Transport containers / secure box one-time equipment (#15); Data storage initial hardware (#20); Controlled-storage sensor network initial hardware (#23).
Contingency Reserve Initial $50K
[#25] Contingency/recovery fund (one-time reserve allocation) for subject disappearance or catastrophic anomaly.
Facilities $41K
[#1, #18] Secure containment cell construction, small reinforced cabinet/mini-cell and installation/certification (#1); backup power / UPS and small generator hookup installation (#18).
Initial Staff Training $4K
[#4] Initial classroom and practical training for security, technicians, and researchers (sing-along protocols, candy handling, instructor fees, materials, time backfill).
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $377K/yr
Research And Monitoring $124K/yr
[#22, #16, #20, #24, #8] Ongoing longitudinal research program budget (#22); Class‑D testing pool provisioning and maintenance (~small pool) (#16); cloud/storage recurring fees for experiment recordings and backups (#20); evidence handling and archival administration (#24); ongoing per-sample testing budget (per-sample cost ~$2,000 — baseline annual allowance included).
Staff Wages $90K/yr
[#17] Dedicated research personnel allocation (pro-rated salaries/overhead for 0.5–1.0 FTE research lead + 0.5 FTE technician; team total estimated).
Medical Standby $60K/yr
[#9] Designated medical standby and emergency response coverage (retainer/coverage for ER physician/paramedic and trauma tech). Call-out fees per activation (~$1,500) are tracked as per-incident costs.
Cover Story And Legal $55K/yr
[#13, #14] Legal counsel and NDA/waiver retainer (#13) plus PR / cover-story reserve for incident management (#14).
Facilities Maintenance $21K/yr
[#5, #18, #19, #23, #26] Sensor and camera maintenance/replacement parts (#5); backup power annual maintenance/fuel (#18); accelerated lighting/camera replacement contingency (#19); controlled-storage monitoring maintenance (#23); replacement/repair of facility fixtures affected by EM/luminescent events (#26).
Psychological Support $10K/yr
[#12] Psychological support and counseling for exposed personnel (annual program budget). Per-major-incident counseling costs (2k–10k) are treated as per-incident contingencies.
Administrative Overhead $8K/yr
[#27] Administrative overhead for record-keeping, permits, compliance, safety committee time, and coordination.
Public Safety Liaison $6K/yr
[#28] Public-safety liaison and coordination with local authorities (monthly retainers/meeting reimbursements). Per-incident civilian-involvement costs are treated as contingencies.
Supplies And Consumables $1K/yr
[#11] PPE and consumables (gloves, gowns, vials, biohazard bags, decon solutions, evidence bags).
Staff Training Refreshers $1K/yr
[#4] Annual refresher training for a small team (~20 personnel) including instructor time and backfill.
Logistics And Transport $600/yr
[#15] Secure courier / external transport runs (baseline estimate for occasional external transfers at ~$600 per run).
Software Hosting And License $600/yr
[#2] Hosting/licensing/hosting fees for biometric access control and birthday-gating integration (annual).
Contingency Reserve Maintenance $0/yr
[#25] Ongoing reserve maintenance for contingency fund (initial one-time reserve allocated; no fixed recurring replenishment specified).
Mortuary Autopsy Per Fatality $0/yr
[#10] Mortuary/autopsy/hazardous remains disposal per fatality estimated at ~$5,000 per fatality (annual cost depends on incident frequency; treated as per-incident expense).
Forensic Incident Response Per Incident $0/yr
[#21] Incident investigation & forensic analysis budget per major incident (~$20,000 per major incident; treated as per-incident expense).
Legal Settlement Contingency Per Major Leak $0/yr
[#13] Legal settlement contingency for a major leak (one-off ~ $100,000 per major leak; held as contingency, treated as per-incident expense).
Public Incident Response Fund Per Incident $0/yr
[#14, #28] Per-incident public relations / reimbursements or local-authority expenses (typical range $50,000–$150,000 per significant public incident; treated as per-incident expense).
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $377K/yr
88.0% probability / year
Normal uneventful year with routine testing, maintenance, and no major incidents or public exposures.
scheduled_tests routine_maintenance no_major_incidents
🚨 Minor Incident $397K/yr
10.0% probability / year +$20K vs baseline
Single minor operational incident (camera/light damage, single activation requiring medical call-out and short investigation).
camera_or_light_damage single_activation_medical_callout small_investigation
🚨 Major Public Leak $592K/yr
2.0% probability / year +$215K vs baseline
Significant accidental public exposure or major adverse incident (fatality, subject disappearance, or large public leak) requiring legal settlement, major PR response, and forensic investigation.
public_exposure fatality_or_disappearance major_forensic_investigation
👥 Personnel 1.25 total
Role Count Notes
Research Scientist (lead) 0.75 Lead research allocation (partial FTE) covering experiment design, oversight, and data analysis; part of recurring staff_wages [#17].
Technician 0.5 Technical support and experiment operation (partial FTE); included in staff_wages estimate [#17].
📋 Confidence Notes
Many cost line-items are explicitly enumerated in analyst notes (medium confidence in aggregated sums). Several per-incident costs and test-frequency-dependent items (per-sample testing, number of transport runs, frequency of equipment-damaging activations) required judgment calls or mid-point assumptions, producing moderate uncertainty.
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