[en] The Health Physics Research Reactor is a small pulse reactor at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It is desirable for the operator to be able to demonstrate on a routine basis that all the fuel pieces are present in the reactor core. Accordingly, a technique has been devised wherein the control rod readings are recorded with the reactor at delayed critical and corrections are made to compensate for the effects of variations in reactor height above the floor, reactor power, core temperature, and the presence of any massive neutron reflectors. The operator then compares these readings with the values expected based on previous operating experience. If this routine operational check suggests that the core fuel loading might be deficient, a more rigorous follow-up may be made