THOMAS NEFF

Thomas L Neff has been Senior Researcher at the Center for International Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for more than 30 years. During this time he has conducted research on international energy industries and markets and on energy technology development. From 1977 to 1986, he directed MIT’s International Energy Studies Program.

In the US, Dr Neff has served as an advisor on energy programmes, technology, and national security to the Department of State, the Department of Energy, the Executive Office of the President, and the US Congress. He has also served as an advisor on markets, international trade policy and negotiations, corporate valuation, acquisition and divestiture, dispute resolution, and business strategy to senior management in many international companies.

Dr Neff is a frequent speaker at industry and investment seminars. In October 1991, he proposed to officials of the Soviet and US Governments the purchase of HEU from Soviet nuclear weapons and after being invited to Moscow to discuss his proposal with Russian weapons scientists and senior government officials, subsequently advised both US and Russian governments on the implementation of the HEU deal. He is the recipient of the 1997 Leo Szilard Award for his efforts. Under this "swords to ploughshares" deal, the ongoing destruction of about 20,000 nuclear weapons supplies nearly half of US nuclear fuel requirements and ten percent of US electricity.

Dr Neff is the author of several books, including The International Uranium Market (Ballinger/Harper & Row, 1984), and numerous articles. He received his PhD in physics from Stanford University in 1973 and subsequently conducted research in physics at Berkeley, Stanford, and MIT. Dr Neff is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.