UPDATE 2-Progress shuts N.Carolina Harris reactor for work

(Updates with company comment)

NEW YORK Nov 16 (Reuters) - Progress Energy Inc (PGN.N) shut the 900-megawatt Harris nuclear power station in North Carolina on Nov. 15 due to a main generator oil leak, a spokeswoman for the plant said Monday.

She could not say when the unit would likely return to service. Electricity traders guessed it would be back within a week.

The Harris station, which entered service in 1987, is located in Wake County about 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Raleigh, North Carolina. The NRC renewed the plant's original 40-year operating license in 2008 for another 20 years until 2046.

One MW powers about 700 homes in North Carolina.

Progress Energy, of Raleigh, operates the station for its owners, Progress (83.5 percent) and North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power (16.5 percent).

Progress owns and operates more than 21,000 MW of generating capacity, markets energy commodities, and transmits and distributes electricity to about 3.1 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Marguerita Choy)