The Self Tuning Regulator(STR) method which is an approach of adaptive control theory, is ap-plied to design the fully automatic power controller of the nonlinear reactor model. The adaptive control represent a proper approach to design the suboptimal controller for nonlinear, time-varying stochastic systems. The control system is based on a third­order linear model with unknown, time-varying parameters. The updating of the parameter estimates is achieved by the recursive extended least square method with a variable forgetting factor. Based on the estimated parameters, the output (average coolant temperature) is predicted one-step ahead. And then, a weighted one-step ahead controller is designed so that the difference between the output and the desired output is minimized and the variation of the control rod position is small. Also, an integral action is added in order to remove the steady­state error. A nonlinear M plant model was used to simulate the proposed controller of reactor power which covers a wide operating range. From the simulation result, the performances of this controller for ramp input (increase or decrease) are proved to be successful. However, for step input this controller leaves something to be desired.