In order to design a Reduced-Moderation Water Reactor (RMWR) core from a thermal-hydraulic point of view, an evaluation method on the pressure drop in a tight-lattice rod bundle is required. In this study, axial pressure drops in tight-lattice 37-rod bundles were measured under conditions of 2-9 MPa in exit pressure and 200-1,000 kg/(m 2 Ás) in mass velocity. The measured pressure drops were compared with calculated ones by the evaluation method with the Martinelli-Nelson's correlation. The comparison shows that a single-phase friction factor can be applied not only to a circular tube but also to a tight-lattice bundle except for an extremely small gap width. Then two-phase friction loss is a dominant component and accounts for about 60% of the pressure drop under an RMWR nominal operating condition. The evaluation method can evaluate effects of the flow area configuration (rod number, rod diameter, gap width) and axial power distribution under a wide range of flow conditions, and it can yield a good prediction of the pressure drop in a tight-lattice bundle.