fuel rod 
noun
A rod-shaped fuel element in a nuclear reactor.To control the reactor (the equivalent of turning up and down a flame on a gas cooker) control rods made of boron or cadmium are inserted near the fuel rod to absorb neutrons....
- Anti-nuclear activists, however, said that the plant operators should have earlier on identified the risk involved with using a damaged fuel rod in the reactor.
- The fuel rod was removed in 1979 from the Vermont Yankee reactor, which is currently shut down for refueling and maintenance.