The moderating volumetric displacement members 812 may be inserted into channels 808 singly or in any plurality of members. Moderating volumetric displacement members 812 may take on a cylindrical shape, a square or rectangular prism shape, a triangular prism shape, a polygonal prism shape and the like. In another implementation, moderating volumetric displacement members 812 may include a set of members (not shown). Selection of the geometric shape and number of moderating volumetric displacement members 812 per channel 808 will determine the ratio of moderating material to reflector material in channels 808. Selectively inserting moderating volumetric displacement members 812 permits adjustment of breed rate and reactivity in fuel region 802 and allows maintenance of a desired burnup level. In an implementation, a burnup rate is maintained within a desired upper and lower bound by selectively inserting and removing at least a subset of moderating volumetric displacement members 812.