[en] In this paper the authors present the results of an investigation of a new pressurized water reactor load-following control concept that utilizes light gray (LG) banks in combination with a single high-worth bank. The investigation determined a control strategy and a set of nuclear design parameters for the control banks that permits unrestricted load-following operation over a wide power range at both beginning-of-cycle and end-of-cycle conditions. Advantages of the LG-bank control concept are that flexible load-following maneuvers can be performed without either making changes in the boron concentration or requiring the continuous insertion of a high-worth control bank. These features remove both of the disadvantages of current gray-bank load-following designs, which generally require the continuous insertion of a high-worth bank and in some cases also involve changes in the boron concentration