What are the types of nuclear power plants and what are their advantages and disadvantages?

Nuclear power plants are categorized based on the type of reactor present or used at the power station. Various nuclear plant types include the following;

• Pressurized Heavy-Water-Moderated and Cooled Reactor Type.
• Pressurized Light-Water-Moderated and Cooled Reactor Type.
• Boiling Light-Water-Cooled and Moderated Reactor Type.
• Light-Water-Cooled, Graphite-Moderated Reactor Type.
• Gas-Cooled, Graphite-Moderated Reactor Type.
• Fast Breeder Reactor Type.

listed below are the general advantages and disadvantages of a nuclear power plant.

Advantages

• Nuclear power plants do not require a lot of space as compared to other conventional and non-conventional sources of energy. For example a solar farm space required to generate 290 MW  of electricity will be far more larger than a nuclear power plant with the same capacity
• Nuclear power plant do not contribute to carbon emissions 
• Nuclear power plants are more reliable as their source of energy is not dependent on the weather when compared to wind turbine power plants and solar power plants
• Nuclear power plants have the most concentrated form of energy and, hence requires a small mass of fuel to produce  a lot of energy.

Disadvantages

• Waste from nuclear power plants are radioactive hence the disposal of nuclear waste is very expensive.
• Decommissioning of nuclear power plants are very expensive and usually takes a long period to decommission a plant.
• In the case of a nuclear power plant  disaster such as a meltdown, this can lead to the release of  radiation producing particles over a large area which could cause deaths and genetic mutations.