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July 25, 2008 4:16:05 PM CDT

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Power Back On in South Florida

Posted Feb 27, 08 5:15 AM CST in US 

(Newser) – Floridians saw the light again last evening when power was restored after equipment failure at a single Miami substation caused a blackout which dominoed across South Florida, leaving millions without power for several hours. Most homes were back on the grid before nightfall, but why a single substation's failure could have such a devastating impact remains a mystery, reports the Miami Herald.

Both reactors at the Turkey Point nuclear power station shut down as a safety measure, triggering incorrect reports that the outtage triggered the blackout. "This failure is in no way a safety issue,"  said a spokeswoman for Florida Power & Light. "The system performed as it should have. Our system is designed to protect the system."

Source Miami Herald

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Downtown Miami is seen Tuesday evening, Feb. 26, 2008. Florida's largest utility says equipment failure and a fire at a Miami substation led to power outages that affected up to 3 million people. (AP...   (Associated Press)
Traffic heads west out of Miami after problems with the electricity grid caused the Turkey Point nuclear plant to automatically shut down, intermittently cutting power to up to 3 million people from Daytona...   (Associated Press)
Shown is the Turkey Point nuclear plant south of Miami which shut down after problems with the electricity grid , intermittently cutting power to up to 3 million people from Daytona Beach through the...   (Associated Press)
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