Helen Caldicott, founder and president of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute, came to Sacramento State on Thursday to promote her new book, “Nuclear Power is Not the Answer.”

Speaking to a crowd of about 30 people on the Women’s Resource Center patio, Caldicott spoke about problems with and related to nuclear power, a necessity of individual involvement to stop problems.

“You’ve heard of Chernobyl, right?” she asked. “Did you know that, as a result of Chernobyl, 40 percent of the European land mass is currently radioactive?”

“This is why I don’t eat European food,” she said. “I don’t know which batches of cheese, or whatever, are going to contain Strontium-90 or Cesium-137 or Plutonium, which are all highly mutagenic and highly carcinogenic.”

After she spoke for about an hour, she signed copies of her books.

“People always come up and thank me,” she said in closing. “I don’t want to be thanked.”

The few students in attendance were enthusiastic about her, her message and her books.

“The lady’s brilliant, and I think it’s very sad that the youth, especially students here, didn’t get to see such a wonderful lady, such an intelligent, well-spoken lady speak about such an important topic,” said music and psychology major Jasynte Harris.

“California, being the so-called liberal capital of the world, really needs to get moving in terms of economics, foreign policy, and environmental issues, which Dr. Caldicott addressed today,” Harris said. “I just wish that more students were here.”

Caldicott was born in Australia in 1938, and received her medical degree from the University of Adelaide Medical School in 1961. She was awarded 19 honorary doctorate degrees and named one of the most influential women of the 20th Century by the Smithsonian Institute.

Caldicott was the founding president of Physicians for Social Responsibility from 1978 through 1983. Physicians for Social Responsibility was the co-winner of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize. Linus Pauling individually nominated Caldicott for the Prize. Caldicott also founded Women’s Action for Nuclear Disarmament, according to the Nuclear Policy Research Insitute’s website.

Tom Roberts can be reached at [email protected]