FREDERICTON -- Residents of southwestern New Brunswick will see lots of emergency vehicles and even the evacuation of some homes and a school over the next two days, but it's all just part of an exercise.
NB Power and New Brunswick's Emergency Measures Organization have been planning the emergency preparedness exercise for more than two years, and utility president Gaetan Thomas says he doesn't want anyone to be alarmed by the unusual activity.
Thomas says the exercise is designed to test the utility, the province and first responders in the event of a nuclear accident at the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant.
He says it will be a chance to test equipment and procedures implemented since the nuclear accident that occurred in Fukushima, Japan in 2011.
Thomas says the exercise will be a true test because even he doesn't know the details of the emergency scenario.
New Brunswick EMO Director Greg McCallum says while they stage exercises every three years, this will be the largest of its kind in the province.
