In PWRs - a different LWR system - control rods are withdrawn from the core, and the control is acheived with soluble B-10 in the coolant (which is buffered with LiOH) to maintain a pH above 6.9 or perhaps closer to 7.1 - 7.4 for purposes of minimizing the accumulation of crud (metal corrosion products) on the fuel.
Rhetorical patterns have an additional function of helping writers to organize information in ways their readers can understand easily (425). Another term for these patterns is topoi (commonplaces). Many of these topoi are useful in numerous situations.
1 A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in a deafening silence and a mournful optimist.  n. A figure of speech in which two words with opposing meanings are used together intentionally for effect.