How was the project supposed to work?

[ArmySGT.]

What to do with the refugees?

If I was planning for the Project............

I would have a premade support facility buried and with a staff in cryosleep. Someplace rural but not an arduous journey from a civilian population center.

This would be like the cylinders for Prime Base. Just one cylinder though. The staff would not be large (20-30 max) and would be responsible for power generation, sanitation, and medical care. The staff would bring to the surface modular huts (quonsets?) and would emplace the utilities to make a habitable small town. Bring the people to the resources by rail, by bus, and advertise by AM radio, finally with recon emplacing road signs that lead to the "Morrow Village".