True. I believe they're called "pebble reactors". The fuel looks like golf balls (maybe larger) rather than fuel/control rods. I don't know the physics behind it, but the reaction is self-regulating such that a "China Syndrome" is highly unlikely if not impossible (famous last words, eh?!). Anyway, it's a much safer reactor than the current design.
In the category of words one would like to take back, a few years before Chernobyl, Scientific American had an article about "inherently safe" Russian reactor designs.
Current designs are proven safe, and while research should continue on alternatives, simplicity and redundancy are still proven to be best safety features.
I seem to recall they're about the size of billiard balls.
The physics involved is that as the fuel heats up, the coefficient of reactivity - the rate at which fission takes place - drops. A "negative temperature coefficient of reactivity."
So the hotter the core gets, the more the increased heating of the reactor is restricted, and with proper design, the reactor will all but shut down well before the temperature limit of the core is reached.
The problem with most nuclear reactors is that they're too big - "economy of scale" doesn't work the same way in nuclear power.
Here's some detailed information about the fuel pebble and the Modular Helium Reactor: http://gt-mhr.ga.com/3robust.html