[en] The topical report describes the irradiation program developed to investigate different burnable poison rod material and designs. The purpose of the report is to present (1) technical support for the irradiation of several test burnable poison rod designs that have not been previously reviewed, and (2) describe the parameters that will be employed in the surveillance program for Combustion Engineering's (CE) standard burnable poison rod for 16 x 16 fuel assemblies. The test burnable poison rods will be placed in a CE reactor using 16 x 16 fuel assemblies, the first such reactor is Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2. The irradiation program has four phases. Phase I involves the irradiation of 48 standard burnable poison rods which (1) will be extensively precharacterized prior to irradiation and (2) will undergo interim performance evaluation and detailed post-irradiation examination. Phase II, III, and IV involve irradiation and performance evaluation of a small number of burnable poison rods of different proprietary designs. The report discusses the materials to be used in each phase, the methods of fabricating the rods, and the rods expected behavior in a reactor