NB Power managers say they are using the current refurbishment to make the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station more resistant to earthquakes.

Point Lepreau station director Wade Parker said what's happening to nuclear power plants in Japan in the wake of a deadly 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami would probably never happen in New Brunswick.

He said Lepreau was designed to withstand an earthquake of 6.4, with the plant as its epicentre — the kind of event projected to only happen once in a thousand years.

"We know that there are small earthquakes in this area. We know that there are minor faults in this area. There's no surprises here, that's all been taken into the baseline data to come up with our design for the station," he said Monday.

"Typically earthquakes in this area [are] 4 to 5 [magnitude], and we're designed above that."

Parker said he's waiting to hear what exactly happened in Japan, and take any lessons that can be learned to improve safety at Point Lepreau "because that's what it's all about, the safety of our plant people and the environment."

"We will learn from this, I'm certain. But it will take some time to get the facts."

As the long-delayed refurbishment continues at Point Lepreau, NB Power said it's adding more protection and more safety guards at the nuclear generator.

There are four diesel generators, and each one alone could provide enough power to get the plant cooled down, if the electricity was knocked out. Two of those generators are padded to survive any earthquake tremors.

But University of Moncton professor and anti-nuclear activist Ronald Babin said there is no such thing as a zero-risk nuclear power plant.

Too much money has already been spent on nuclear technology, he said, at the expense of other research and development.

"We've been throwing billions and billions and billions of dollars at nuclear energy in Canada to the detriment of other, more promising forms of energy," Babin said.

Lepreau, which is located 50 kilometres west of Saint John, is the only nuclear power plant in Atlantic Canada.