Elemen-elemen ini memiliki penampang lintang penangkap neutron yang berbeda untuk neutron dari berbagai energi. Reaktor air mendidih (BWR), reaktor air bertekanan (PWR), dan reaktor air berat(HWR) beroperasi dengan neutron termal, sedangkan reaktor pemulia beroperasi dengan neutron cepat. Setiap desain reaktor dapat menggunakan bahan batang kendali berbeda berdasarkan spektrum energi neutronnya.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]
^limited to use only in research reactors due to increased swelling from helium and lithium due to neutron absorption of boron in the (n, alpha) reaction
^Sairam K, Vishwanadh B, Sonber JK, et al. Competition between densification and microstructure development during spark plasma sintering of B4C–Eu2O3. J Am Ceram Soc. 2017;00:1–11. https://doi.org/10.1111/jace.15376
^Harvey M. Buck, Mark A. Cooper, Petr Cerny, Joel D. Grice, Frank C. Hawthorne: Xenotime-(Yb), YbPO4,a new mineral species from the Shatford Lake pegmatite group, southeastern Manitoba, Canada. In: Canadian Mineralogist. 1999, 37, S. 1303–1306 (Abstract in American Mineralogist, S. 1324; PDF
^A. V. Voloshin, Ya. A. Pakhomovsky, F. N. Tyusheva: Keiviite Yb2Si2O7, A new ytterbium silicate from amazonitic pegmatites of the Kola Peninsula. In: Mineralog. Zhurnal. 1983, 5-5, S. 94–99 (Abstract in American Mineralogist, S. 1191; PDF; 853 kB).