SENECA — Duke Energy Corp's 846-megawatt Unit 3 at Oconee Nuclear Station was at 57 percent power at 2:15 p.m. today after dropping to 25 percent power.

The nuclear power station off S.C. 130 north of Seneca suffered what was called a time-signal issue.

“The processor had a time-signal issue,” said Sandra Magee, a spokeswoman for Duke Energy at Oconee Nuclear Station. “the yustem did what it is designed to do. “The system that controls the control rods tripped off.”

There are three 846 megawatt units at the station.

Unit 2 was shut down in late October for a scheduled refueling and Unit 1 is running at 100 percent, Magee said.

One megawatt powers about 700 homes in Duke Energy’s service area.

In 2000, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission renewed Oconee's original 40-year operating licenses for another 20 years until 2033-2034.

Duke, of Charlotte, North Carolina, owns and operates about 39,000 megawatts of generating capacity in North America and Latin America, markets energy commodities and transmits and distributes electricity to about four million U.S. customers in the Carolinas and the Midwest.