The fallout from an anti-nuclear activist's condemnation of a picturesque Ontario community continues, even as the town's mayor insists the criticism is unfounded.

Dr. Helen Caldicott made her controversial remarks on Tuesday, telling the crowd gathered at a hotel outside Port Hope that the town is tainted by an unchecked legacy of nuclear waste.

"You are passive victims of their criminal negligence," Caldicott said in the speech recorded and subsequently posted to YouTube.

"Check my facts, check the data and make up your own mind if you want to stay in Port Hope," she said, advising the town's residents to flee, then sue for "millions and millions."

Located on the shores of Lake Ontario, about 150 kilometres northeast of Toronto, Port Hope is home to approximately 16,000 people.

The town has been dealing with nuclear material since the 1930s, when it began processing radioactive material at the Eldorado Nuclear Limited plant, now known as Cameco. The plant -- still Canada's only uranium conversion facility -- was the source for the nuclear material used in the first atomic bomb.

In an interview with CTV's Canada AM on Friday, the Australian-born pediatrician, author and longtime anti-nuclear activist stood by her claims and placed the blame squarely on Ottawa.

"It's a dear little town," Caldicott said. "But it's a problem of the irresponsible federal government right from the very beginning not telling people the truth, not informing them, not doing health studies, not measuring their urine for radiation."

Although she concedes the nuclear industry operated under less stringent regulations before the 1970s, Port Hope Mayor Linda Thompson firmly disagrees that the issue has gone unnoticed.

"The reality is Port Hope has been monitored extensively since that time. We're probably one of the most monitored communities in Canada," Thompson told Canada AM.

According to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, dozens of environmental and epidemiological studies conducted in Port Hope have all pointed to the same conclusion -- that the town is safe for residents.

But Caldicott says no amount of exposure to radiation can be considered safe.

"I know people are attached to their town, but it's medically contra-indicated for people to live in radioactive areas because all radiation is dangerous," she said in an interview from Iqaluit. "It's cumulative, each dose that you get adds to your risk of getting cancer."

Unconvinced, Thompson says Caldicott's brand of "drive-by science' has left her and the town incensed.

"Members of our community hit this problem head on and are dealing with it," Thompson insisted. "They continue to ask questions, which is great, and it's made the community and regulatory authorities more accountable to make sure we are a safe and healthy community."

Caldicott's remarks coincide with the start of a major Atomic Energy Canada Ltd. project to transfer one million cubic litres of contaminated soil from various sites within town limits to a sealed mound north of the lakeside community.

The transfer is expected to take ten years.