Memorial Tribute to Louis Roddis

This is a memorial tribute to Louis Roddis (NRHQ (1946 - 1955) by the National Academy of Engineering.

After serving on Joint Task Force I, which was conducting atomic weapons tests in the Bikini Atoll, he joined the group of naval officers that included Admiral (then Captain) Rickover at the Clinton Laboratories of the Manhattan Engineer District (later the Oak Ridge National Laboratory).

He served directly under Rickover as project officer during the development, design, and construction of the nuclear powered submarines Nautilus and Sea Wolf. He played a major role in the development of those submarines as well as in the first U.S. central station nuclear plant at Shippingport, Pennsylvania. His was often a voice of calm and reason in a

frequently frenetic atmosphere during the development of the nuclear engines for the Nautilus.

In 1955 he resigned as an officer in the U.S. Navy to become deputy director of the Reactor Development Division of the AEC. In this capacity he had responsibilities for both the naval and civilian reactor development programs. He helped originate the nuclear rocket project, the nuclear ship Savannah, the nuclear safety program, and the civilian power demonstration

program.