CHAPTER 5,20 REFRIGERATION The Reconnaissance Party found that the refrigeration equipment on the Atoll was in poor condition, The refrigeration units on Parry that still existed were corroded to such an extent that they should be con- sidered as expended and, on Eniwetok the refrigeration equipment had de- teriorated beyond the point where it would be feasible to recondition or reuse it in future operations, These refrigerators referred to were typ- ical Army portable, walk-in reefers, lined with galvanized sheet metal which showed considerable deterioration, There were also several small Navy portable type reefers, 5 feet by 6 feet by 5~1/2 feet inside dimen sions, in poor condition, and also considered to be unusable, In April 1949, during preliminary planning for the Project and at the time preliminary sketch plans for various buildings were being pre—pared, considerable thought was given to the best method of providing for the necessary refrigeration facilities, Careful consideration was given to two basic methods of supplying equipment: permanent walk-in cold stor- age buildings constructed at Jobsite of materials shipped over in bulk; and prefabricated, portable, walk-in refrigerators manufactured domestically and assembled in the field. If jobeconstructed cold storage buildings were to be used, construc tion from materials (insulation, concrete or concrete blocks, and lumber) shipped to the job would require the employment of construction labor skilled in this trade, Further, it was felt that concrete or wood struc- tures of this type would mot be well suited to expansion in case of in- creased requirements, nor would they be well suited to reduced require- ments during standby or roll-up periods. In addition, the installation and maintenance of large refrigeration facilities would require the em ployment of construction laborers and maintenance workers highly skilled in this trade, In recognition of these problems to be excepted in regard to construc-~ tion personnel and the operation and maintenance of mechanical equipment, it was felt that the best solution lay in using a series of identical small walk-in refrigerators, all powered by identical air-cooled comdensing units and so arranged that any refrigerator box could be operated at either 35° F or 0° F, In this way, as personnel increased, extra boxes could be added as required, and as few as two boxes (one at each temp- erature) could be used for a small standby crew. Air-cooled condensing units were selected because of the extremely high relative humidity prevalent at Eniwetok Atoll. Approximately the same results could be obtained by either air-cooled or water-cooled equipment but because cooling water pumps, spray nozzles, and piping are not required for air-cooled equipment, maintenance of them is simplified. 5-263