[en] A control rod using boron carbide as the neutron poison was analyzed for use in a pressurized water reactor. The motivation for this study stems from the increasing use of boron carbide in control rod elements for large commercial nuclear power stations and the potential safety hazard related to excessive inelastic cladding deformation due to pellet-cladding interaction. As such, the radiation induced dilatation of the boron carbide pellets and the ensuing pellet-cladding interaction phenomena were the dominant concerns of this investigation. Based on the small deformation theory of linear elasticity, the method developed herein can be used to predict that rod burnup which initiates the yielding of the cladding. The details of the physical properties of boron carbide and related design data required for the analysis are included