Abstract: The control rod in sodium fast reactors is a cluster of open pins with boron carbide（B₄C）as the absorber. The enrichment of 10B can be adjusted to satisfy different requirements on the reactivity control. However,irradiation effects such as gas release,heat production,and pellet swelling limit the safety performance and service time of conventional control rods.The spatial self-shielding effect and its variation is the decisive factor in the modeling of control rods in fast reactors. This paper uses an improved deterministic calculation scheme to improve and assess control rod designs in next-generation fast reactors. Various alternative absorbers are assessed according to their neutronic performance,safety performance,and waste management. The results show that there are alternative choices to conventional absorber at different absorption levels. The large fast reactors,such as commercial reactors,usually exhibit reduced reactivity loss and require long operating life of control rods. In this case,Eu₂O₃ would be very suitable thanks to their small worth loss under irradiation. In medium-size fast reactors,TiB₂ can be considered for its high thermal conductivity. HfH_1.62 proves excellent neutronic performance,while its hydrogen desorption issues should be further verified. In small modular fast reactors,HfB₂ can be used with an extra-long operating lifetime because of its high melting point and limited swelling under irradiation. The combination of absorbers and moderators is also considered in this work. The use of moderators may save investment by reducing the use of absorber and increase the reactivity worth of the control rod. The moderator is able to homogenize the capture reaction spatial distr ibution and hence reduces the absorption peak.