The Clinton Engineer Works served as the primary production installation for the Manhattan Project in East Tennessee. Located near Oak Ridge, the site was essential for producing the enriched uranium used in the Hiroshima bombing, as well as early reactor-produced plutonium.
The facility was organized across three major sites and included a dedicated power plant and the town of Oak Ridge. In August 1943, the headquarters of the Manhattan District were relocated to this site by Kenneth Nichols. Throughout the war, the University of Chicago managed the advanced research conducted at the facility.