A method for recognizing the step movement sequence of a control rod drive mechanism of a nuclear reactor, which withdraws and inserts a control rod of a nuclear reactor, includes the steps of: measuring current and voltage flowing through an electromagnetic coil used in the control rod drive mechanism of the nuclear reactor; calculating inductance of the coil by using the measured current and voltage; calculating a distance between a rotor and a stator of the control rod drive mechanism on the basis of the calculated inductance; and recognizing the step movement sequence of the control rod drive mechanism on the basis of the calculated distance. This method ensures good reliability in determining the step movement sequence, allows easy implementation using a digital signal processor, and is hardly affected by external factors such as noise.