Person Roberts; Lewis Edward John (1922 - 2012); nuclear chemist Roberts Lewis Edward John nuclear chemist 1922 - 2012 British Male 125 Whitchurch Road, Gabalfa, Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales, United Kingdom 31 January 1922 19220131 John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom 10 April 2012 20120410

Nuclear chemist Chemistry Thermodynamics Solid state chemistry Education: St. Hilda’s private primary school (1927-32); Swansea Grammarschool (1932-39); Jesus College, Oxford (1943) Career: Worked on Tube Alloys, Britain's atomic bomb project investigating factors affecting the life of the metal membranes used to enrich uranium by gaseous diffusion (1943); went to Canada to work under John Cockcroft, on uranium enrichment and plutonium production via irradiated fuel (1945); accompanied Cockroft on his return to Britain, where he set up the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell (1947); appointed director in succession to Walter Marshall (1976); board member of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (1979); tasked with finding a method and site for British nuclear waste disposal and was lead witness in two public inquiries seeking permission for work at two possible disposal sites, Ayr (1979) and Newcastle (1980); left Harwell (1986); Wolfson chair of environmental risk assessment at the University of East Anglia (1986-1990); died in hospital of pneumonia. Honours: CBE 1978 Parents: Revd William Edward Roberts (1889–1933), minister in the Presbyterian Church of Wales, and Lillian Lewis, née John (1887–1953), schoolteacher. Spouse: (m. 30 July 1948) (Eleanor) Mary Luscombe (1922–2010), primary school teacher, and daughter of Robert Luscombe, schoolmaster. Children: Matthew Roberts Made notable contributions to solid state chemistry, particularly to the thermodynamics and phase equilibria of the actinide oxides and to the role of surface chemistry and defect structure in solid state processes such as the oxidation of uranium dioxide. Lectures: Rutherford Memorial 1992 Fellow 18/03/1982 60 Roberts L E J, IM003845.jpg International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbm.2013.0001 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/action/doSearch?ContribAuthorRaw=Roberts%2C+Lewis+Edward+John RCN 13022 RCN R60979 RCN 10006 RCN 13011 31 Jan 1922 - 10 Apr 2012 The past Fellows entries are under continuous revision. If you have queries or additional information to contribute, please contact Library@royalsociety.org. Content in external sources is not controlled by the Royal Society and historical sources may include content that is now unacceptable. Reviewed on 30/07/2025 as part of the Name Authority Project update. NA5057 21/11/2001 Andyg Pmab 08/09/2025 RS_NET\VirginiaM Yes http://viaf.org/viaf/8777571 15fa4aaf-4c79-413e-9357-b405319222db