Thomas Neff (born 1955 in Linz) is an Austrian environmentalist and activist in the Anti-nuclear movement in Austria. A resident of Schleedorf, he has been active for decades with the Platform Against Nuclear Dangers Salzburg (PLAGE) and is committed to environmental protection in many areas.
Personal life Thomas Neff began training as an electromechanic at the age of 15, actively championed workplace safety and environmental protection in his role as a youth representative, and worked in the trade as a skilled worker for ten years. Following his military and alternative civilian service, he trained as a therapeutic masseur and has been self-employed as a professional and therapeutic masseur since 1984. Neff's wife, Stefanie is also active in environmental causes and the movement against nuclear power.Ein Dauerläufer gegen Atomkraft - Der Schleedorfer Thomas Neff engagiert sich seit 37 Jahren in der Anti-Atom-Bewegung und schaffte vor 25 Jahren mit vielen Mitstreitern mit dem längsten Transparent sogar einen Weltrekord, Flachgauer Nachrichten, 29 April 2015Thomas Neff - Lebensgespräch 2018, KommEnt (Gesellschaft für Kommunikation, Entwicklung und dialogische Bildung) 4/2019, p. 24–27,
Wackersdorf Memorial (Salzburg)
Neff is the initiator, planner, artist, and co-creator of the Wackersdorf Memorial (Salzburg). As early as the 1980s, Neff demonstrated against the construction of the Wackersdorf reprocessing plant (WAA) and was a regular activist on-site in Wackersdorf.Ein „DenkMal“ gegen Atomkraft feiert auf dem Mozartplatz in Salzburg Jubiläum - Dank des Schleedorfers Thomas Neff gibt es seit 25 Jahren das Wackersdorf-Denkmal in Salzburg. (A "monument" opposing nuclear power is marking an anniversary in Salzburg's Mozartplatz: thanks to Thomas Neff from Schleedorf, the Wackersdorf monument has stood in Salzburg for 25 years.), (as PDF), Salzburger Nachrichten, 16 July 2025Atomenergie ist teuer, gefährlich und keine Zukunftslösung – Fest der Plattform gegen Atomgefahren beim vor 25 Jahren errichteten Anti-WAA-Denkmal (Nuclear energy is expensive, dangerous, and not a solution for the future – Festival held by the Platform Against Nuclear Dangers at the anti-reprocessing plant monument erected 25 years ago.), Plattform Zivilgesellschaft Salzburg, 19 July 2025 In 1999, marking the tenth anniversary of the halt in WAA construction, he conceived the idea for a Wackersdorf memorial after receiving a paperweight (a souvenir made from original sections of the construction site fencing)Das Ende einer Zaun-Karriere - Abschied vom Bauzaun in Wackersdorf - er ruhe in Frieden! (The end of a fence's career - bidding farewell to the construction fence in Wackersdorf – may it rest in peace!), taz, 28 March 1990Company owner Anton Schönberger from Schwarzenfeld/Schwarzach erected the WAA construction fence, dismantled it in 1990, and subsequently sold sought-after souvenirs made from the fencing. from the Upper Palatinate. He quickly won over his fellow PLAGE activist to the project. For the memorial's design, Neff scaled up the paperweight thirteen-fold and also designed the concrete base. The base of the original construction fence in Wackersdorf had been built with a very steep incline to prevent protesters from reaching the fence directly; Neff's memorial base replicated this same angle of inclination.Das WAAhnMal, PLAGE-News, 12 July 2000Wackersdorfdenkmal Das Wackersdorf-WAAhnmal zieht um, (The Wackersdorf WAA memorial is moving), PLAGE The memorial was unveiled on July 20, 2000, at the opening of the Salzburg Festival and was consecrated by Vinzenz Baldemair (Provost of Mattsee Abbey).Idee des Atomgegners (Neff) - Wackersdorf-Denkmal, (Idea of the anti-nuclear activist (Neff) – Wackersdorf memorial), Flachgauer Nachrichten, 20 July 2000 Attendees included key figures from the "official" anti-Wackersdorf resistance movement: Hans Schuierer (former District Administrator of Schwandorf), (former Mayor of Salzburg), and Mayor Heinz Schaden.20 Jahre PLAGE: Stationen eines langen Weges 1986 - 2006, (20 Years of PLAGE: Milestones of a Long Journey 1986–2006), - PLAGE Plattform News, 3/2006, p. 2Der „Titan von Wackersdorf“ wird 90 Jahre alt. (The "Titan of Wackersdorf" (Hans Schuierer) turns 90.), Salzburger Nachrichten, 6 February 2021Handschlag-Foto, Kultur gegen die WAA, p. 10Katja Schumann: Mozart, Musik und Mahnmal - Wackersdorf liegt in Österreich? - Enthüllung zum Start der Festspielsaison am Donnerstag, 20. Juli / Symbol des Widerstands, Mittelbayerische Zeitung, July 2000
Environmental protection campaigns
Neff's activism is characterized by numerous attention-grabbing and sometimes spectacular campaigns focused on environmental protection and opposition to nuclear energy.Thomas Neff - Aktionsleiter und Kassier (Thomas Neff – Campaign Manager and Treasurer), (as PDF, 2020), www.plage.at
A clean Salzach river without chlorine bleaching In 1987–88, Neff campaigned vigorously against the use of toxic chlorine bleaching by the Hallein paper mill and advocated for a clean Salzach River. This demand was met politically in 1991 with the introduction of oxygen bleaching, allowing the Salzach to be revitalized downstream from Hallein.Thomas Neff - Lebensgespräch am 27.09.2018 (Thomas Neff – Conversation about his life, September 27, 2018), Die Welt ist voller Mut - Dokumentation der KommEnt-Lebensgespräche, komment papers 04, 2019, p. 24–27,
Radioactive clock faces Between 1988 and 1998, Neff examined the clock faces of alarm clocks and pocket watches and found that they emitted radioactive radiation. Neff received the "City of Linz Environmental Protection Award" for his years of work addressing the issue of radioactive luminous paints and other nuclides on the dials of alarm clocks and pocket watches, as well as for conducting measurements in kindergartens and private households.Certificate: City of Linz Environmental Protection Award 1998 to Thomas Neff - (Wikimedia Commons) Neff's research also led to extensive coverage in the Japanese media.Strahlende Wecker - Interview mit Thomas Neff, (Radiant Alarm Clocks – Interview with Thomas Neff), Plage News 9/1988 auf www.plage.atVideobotschaft von Klimaschutzministerin Leonore Gewessler, (Video message from Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler) Goldenes Verdienstzeichen durch Leonore Gewessler BMK 2021 After Chernobyl, the Japanese journalist Hirokawa Ryuichi visited Neff and photographed him using a Geiger counter to check heavily contaminated fish.Stoppt die Atom-Gefahr - Thomas Neff, Anti-Atom-Aktivist von Beginn an, hat Salzburgs Verstrahlung nach Tschernobyl dokumentiert (Stop the nuclear danger - Thomas Neff, an anti-nuclear activist from the beginning, has documented Salzburg's radiation after Chernobyl.), Kronen Zeitung, 20 March 2011
Radioactive speedometer dials in ÖBB locomotives After discovering with his Geiger counterGeigerzähler im Handschuhfach - Allzeit bereit. Thomas Neff ist für den atomaren Ernstfall gerüstet. Er hat seinen Geigerzähler immer dabei. Und ist mit Schutzanzügen ausgerüstet., Salzburger Nachrichten, 15 March 2011 that alarm clock and watch dials emitted radiation, Neff also examined speedometer dials in Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) locomotives in 1997. He detected significantly higher levels of radiation. The dials were coated with a radium-based paste that made them glow in the dark. Neff gained unauthorized access to the ÖBB repair facility in Linz where speedometers were regularly dismantled and serviced and found that the workers' workbenches were also contaminated with radioactivity. ÖBB acknowledged the issue and, with Neff's assistance, removed the radioactive speedometer dials from 76 locomotives; the maintenance technicians' workstations also required extensive decontamination. In 1998, Neff was awarded the Environmental Protection Prize by the province of Upper Austria for this work.Thomas Neff: Radioaktive Belastung in der Arbeitswelt am Beispiel von Tachometern in ÖBB-Lokomotiven (Radioactive exposure in the workplace: the case of speedometers in ÖBB locomotives), PLAGE 18 June 1998 oebb.doc (www.oebb.at)Radioaktives Gestein in Schulen gefunden - In elf Salzburger Schulen lagerte über Jahrzehnte hochbrisantes Material: radioaktives Gestein, das einst dem Unterricht diente. Wie soll man mit diesen Pechblenden umgehen, um Gefahren abzuwenden? (Radioactive rock found in schools – Highly hazardous material had been stored in eleven Salzburg schools for decades: radioactive rock that was once used for teaching purposes. How should these pitchblende samples be handled to avert danger?), profil, 15 October 2016Certificate: 1998 Environmental Protection Award of the State of Upper Austria for Thomas Neff - (Wikimedia Commons)
Radioactivity measurements in the Czech Republic In 2001, Neff conducted unofficial radioactivity measurements at the Mydlovary uranium sludge dump in the Czech Republic. Located ten kilometers from the Temelín Nuclear Power Station, 36 million tons of radioactive sludge (a legacy of a former uranium processing plant) are buried there. In 2002, he officially repeated the measurements with the legal assistance of the American lawyer Ed Fagan.Atommüllager Tschechien (Czech Republic nuclear waste storage facility), www.plage.atStrahlenverseuchtes "Naturgebiet" - In der Nähe des Atomkraftwerks Temelin lauert weitere Gefahr (Radiation-contaminated "nature reserve" - Further danger lurks near the Temelin nuclear power plant), Flachgauer Nachrichten, 3 May 2001Atommüll-Lager bedroht uns! Salzburger fanden knapp hinter Grenze hochstrahlende Urandeponie (Nuclear waste storage threatens us! Salzburg residents found a highly radioactive uranium dump just across the border), Kronen Zeitung, 23 September 2001
Radioactivity in schools Neff, who has been using his Geiger counter to check for radiation in everyday environments since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, accidentally discovered uranium-bearing rock (pitchblende) in the biology classroom of the Herz-Jesu-Gymnasium in Salzburg-Liefering in 2016. Following this discovery in the school's mineral collection, he inspected biology classrooms at several other schools in Austria and found more uranium-bearing rock. Subsequently, as part of a doctoral research project by PLAGE member Peter Machart and in cooperation with the State of Salzburg a radiological screening of geological collections in schools was conducted; radioactive minerals were found in thirteen additional schools, and the affected collections were subsequently remediated.Radioaktive Gesteine an Salzburger Schulen (Radioactive rocks at Salzburg schools), www.plage.atAtominstitute - In elf Salzburger Schulen lagerte über Jahrzehnte hochbrisantes Material: radioaktives Gestein, das einst dem Unterricht diente. Wie soll man mit diesen Pechblenden umgehen, um Gefahren abzuwenden? (Atomic Institutes - For decades, highly hazardous material was stored in eleven Salzburg schools: radioactive rock that was once used for teaching purposes. How should this pitchblende be handled to avert danger?), Profil (magazine), 17 October 2016, p. 78–80Strahlenproben - In Salzburgs Schulen wurde vergangenen Sommer hochbrisantes Material gefunden: radioaktives Gestein, das früher dem Unterricht diente. Die Pechblenden sind inzwischen gesichert. Wie gehen die restlichen Bundesländer mit dem Problem um? (Radiation samples – Highly hazardous material was discovered in Salzburg schools last summer: radioactive rock that was once used for teaching purposes. The pitchblende samples have since been secured. How are the other federal states dealing with the issue?), Profil (magazine), 6 February 2017, p. 56f.Steine aus Salzburger Schulen sind radioaktiv (Stones from Salzburg schools are radioactive), Salzburger Nachrichten, 17 October 2016