Why did General Leslie Groves evade Robert Oppenheimer's question here?

Question

General Leslie Groves and Robert Oppenheimer met to discuss the Manhattan Project and the procurement of uranium ore:

Groves: 1,200 tons bought the day I took charge.

Robert Oppenheimer: Processing?

Groves: Just broke ground at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Now I'm looking for a project director.

Here General Leslie Groves sidesteps Oppenheimer’s question about uranium processing, instead discussing the new project site and his search for a director.

Why did General Leslie Groves evade Robert Oppenheimer's question here?

Answer 1

He doesn't evade the question. He answers it directly. Oppenheimer asks how and where they will be enriching sufficient uranium for a bomb. In response, Groves tells him that they're building a custom facility at Oak Ridge to deal with that.

On September 18, 1942, Groves formally took charge of the bomb project—officially designated the Manhattan Engineer District, but most often referred to as the Manhattan Project. That very day, he arranged to buy 1,200 tons of high-grade uranium ore. The next day, he ordered the acquisition of a site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where the uranium could be processed. Later that month, he began a tour across the country of all the laboratories engaged in experimental work on uranium isotope separation. On October 8, 1942, he met Oppenheimer at a Berkeley luncheon hosted by the president of the university. Soon afterwards, Robert Serber saw Groves walk into Oppenheimer’s office, accompanied by Colonel Nichols.

_{^{American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer}}

He's telling Oppenheimer, don't you worry about that, let me worry about that.