Helen Caldicott, a doctor and career activist against nuclear weapon proliferation and environmental dangers, spoke yesterday evening in the Mandela Room to an audience of approximately 200 people about the threats posed by nuclear energy and natural gas extraction.

Caldicott has publicly campaigned about these issues for 41 years and has authored a multitude of articles and seven books. She has been invited to speak all around the United States about the dangers of nuclear power. Yesterday’s lecture was sponsored by a collection of campus and local environmental groups.

She said that speaking invitations and interest in her work have increased after March’s nuclear power plant meltdown in Fukushima, Japan, which followed a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami off the coast of Japan.

Caldicott said she aims to expose the dangers of nuclear energy and nuclear war, as well as fracking’s contribution to global warming.

“It will, over time, induce epidemics of cancer, leukemia and genetic disease in all future generations,” Caldicott said, referring to nuclear energy production. “It is really posing the greatest public health hazard the world will ever see.”

Caldicott said she hopes to educate people and spread awareness about her concerns.

“As President Jefferson said, ‘An informed democracy will behave in a responsible fashion,’ and this democracy is simply not being informed scientifically and medically speaking and that’s a very serious issue,” Caldicott said.

Caldicott said she wanted students to join in her activism.

“[I want students] to be educated and empowered, and politically activated,” Caldicott said.

Binghamton Mayor Matt Ryan attended Caldicott’s lecture to present her with a “key to the city.”

Ryan said he came to hear an intellectual authority speak about nuclear energy and to learn about the effects it will have on the environment.

“This will force us to look at other ways of powering ourselves,” Ryan said. “I don’t think nuclear energy is the way to go. First of all, we still have no place to dispose of the waste, always been like that. There are just so many technologies that we should be putting our energy and money into — affordable technology that don’t have the waste problem.”

Jenna Fierstein, a senior double-majoring in biology and environmental studies and president of the Student Environmental Action Coalition, also attended the lecture. She said she was impressed by Caldicott.

“I think she had a lot of interesting points,” Fierstein said. “I agree with the main ideas she had. I learned a lot. She was very engaging in the way she spoke.”