Abstract
The article provides an overview of existing practical methods for determining the power and energy release in fuel of fuel rods tested in research reactors. Emphasis is placed on approaches that can be successfully used in the practice of pulsed reactor tests with the unsteady character of power changes. A comparative analysis of various methods is carried out, their advantages and disadvantages are reflected. Recommendations are formulated on the application of the considered approaches in the practice of testing in a pulsed graphite reactor (IGR), aimed at studying the behavior of the fuel of nuclear power reactors in transient and accident conditions.