← SCP Cost Explorer Read on SCP Wiki ↗
SCP-997 Safe ~ medium confidence
SCP-997
Expected annual
$792K
One-time setup
$188K
Annual recurring
$783K
Personnel
5
One-time startup costs are approximately $188,000 for chamber buildout, power/HVAC work, and equipment (automation, sensors, imaging). Annual recurring costs are approximately $782,800 driven primarily by staff wages, contingency reserves, medical/legal coverage, and outsourced services.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $188K
Facilities $88K
[#1, #4, #16] Includes Faraday-tested chamber construction/retrofit (~$75,000), dedicated power/interlock installation (~$3,000), and HVAC/RF treatment (~$10,000).
Equipment $52K
[#3, #5, #6, #7, #13, #15, #21] Cameras/logging (~$7,000), UPS/surge (~$2,000), secure ESD locker (~$1,000), vermin-detection sensors and CV system (~$10,000), remote/automation tooling (~$25,000), transport case/cart (~$4,000), initial spares stock (~$3,000).
Initial Research And Lab Setup $40K
[#14] In-house non-destructive imaging/test-bench equipment and RF analysis gear (~$40,000).
Initial Cleanup And Fumigation $5K
[#8] Initial deep-clean/fumigation prior to commissioning (~$5,000).
Sop Development $3K
[#20] One-time SOP creation and initial documentation (~$3,000).
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $783K/yr
Staff Wages $570K/yr
[#9, #10] Research team allocation (senior researcher, research scientist, technicians) plus dedicated security oversight; salaries, benefits and overhead included (approx. $500k research + $70k security).
Contingency Reserve $100K/yr
[#19] Recommended reserve for incident response, emergency remediation, third-party contractors and legal contingencies (~$100,000/yr; recommended 10–30% of operating budget).
Medical And Psychiatric $50K/yr
[#11] Baseline/post-test psychological screening, emergency psychiatric response and contingency for acute care (~$50,000/yr recommended).
Cover Story And Legal $15K/yr
[#12, #23] Baseline legal/administrative oversight for human-subject consent and internal reviews (~$5,000/yr) plus cover-story/PR retainer (~$10,000/yr).
Research And Monitoring $14K/yr
[#6, #7, #14, #18, #20] CCTV storage/maintenance (~$1,500/yr), vermin-detection cloud compute and updates (~$3,000/yr), outsourced imaging services (~$5,000/yr), secure data archival (~$2,000/yr), annual training/drills (~$3,000/yr).
Supplies And Consumables $13K/yr
[#8, #17, #21] Annual pest-control program (~$8,000/yr), cleaning/decontamination (~$4,000/yr), consumables/spare replacements (~$1,000/yr).
Insurance $10K/yr
[#22] Incremental insurance/liability premium increase or bespoke coverage (~$10,000/yr baseline).
Facilities Maintenance $8K/yr
[#2, #4, #16] Annual Faraday/RF certification and leak testing (~$5,000/yr), power/interlock maintenance/testing (~$500/yr), HVAC/filtered duct maintenance and energy (~$2,000/yr).
Logistics And Transport $2K/yr
[#15] Secure EM-shielded movement costs (~$200/move). Assumes 12 moves/tests per year (monthly) as a conservative baseline → $200 * 12 = $2,400/yr.
Locker Monitoring $200/yr
[#3] Monitoring/maintenance for tamper/door sensors on storage locker (~$200/yr).
Ups Maintenance $200/yr
[#5] Battery replacement reserve and UPS maintenance (~$200/yr).
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $783K/yr
96.5% probability / year
Normal uneventful year with routine testing, monitoring, and no containment incidents.
routine_testing no_containment_failures
🚨 Minor Incident $883K/yr
3.0% probability / year +$100K vs baseline
Localized containment or equipment failure (e.g., RF leakage, sensor failure) requiring emergency repair, additional medical/psych support, and legal/PR work.
RF_leak_detected equipment_failure small_scale_exposure
🚨 Major Breach $2.0M/yr
0.5% probability / year +$1.2M vs baseline
Significant containment breach or accidental powering outside Faraday cage leading to mass exposures, large-scale psychiatric care, legal settlements and major repairs.
catastrophic_RF_failure mass_human_exposure
👥 Personnel 5 total
Role Count Notes
Senior Researcher 1 [#9] Senior researcher (part- to full-time allocation) included in research salary pool.
Research Scientist 1 [#9] Additional research scientist allocation included in research salary pool.
Technician 2 [#9] Two research technicians for experiments and equipment maintenance included in research salary pool.
Security Officer / MTF Agent 1 [#10] Dedicated security oversight during access and testing (~1 FTE).
📋 Confidence Notes
Estimates are based on analyst-provided ranges and reasonable assumptions (e.g., number of moves per year). Core line items and recurring drivers are well-identified, but precise frequencies (tests/moves) and incident probabilities are uncertain, yielding medium confidence.
← SCP-996 ↑ All SCPs SCP-998 →