 The administration of the Clinton Laboratories passed from Monsanto to the University of Chicago in May 1947 , and then to Union Carbide in December 1947 . The Atomic Energy Commission 's influential General Advisory Committee , chaired by J. Robert Oppenheimer , recommended that all work on reactors be concentrated at the Argonne National Laboratory , the successor to the Metallurgical Laboratory , near Chicago . There was also competition for staff and resources from the newly established Brookhaven National Laboratory near New York . Morale was low , and no one could be found to take on the job of Director of Research at the laboratory , renamed the Oak Ridge National Laboratory ( ORNL ) in January 1948 . At least six people turned down the job before Union Carbide 's acting Director , Nelson ( Bunny ) Rucker , asked Weinberg to become Director of Research in March 1948 . 
