The shutoff unit was designed to provide rapid insertion of neutron absorbing material into the reactor core to shutdown the reactor quickly and also to withdraw the absorber slowly to avoid a log-rate trip. Four shutoff units were installed on the HANARO reactor but the half-core test facility was equipped with one shutoff unit. The reactor trip or shutdown is accomplished by four shutoff units by insertion of the shutoff rods. The shutoff rod(SOR) is actuated by a directly linked hydraulic cylinder on the reactor chimney, which is pressurized by a hydraulic pump. The rod is released to drop by gravity, when triplicate solenoid valves are de-energized to vent the cylinder. The hydraulic pump, pipe and air supply system are provided to be similar with the HANARO reactor. The shutoff rod drops for 647mm stroke within 1.13 seconds to shut down the reactor and it is slowly inserted to the full down position, 700mm, with a damping. We have conducted the drop test of the shutoff rod in order to show the performance and the structural integrity of operating system of the shutoff unit. The present paper deals with the 647mm drop time and the withdrawal time according to variation of the pool water temperature, the water level and the core flow.