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GCRs use carbon dioxide or helium as a coolant instead of water. The Magnox and Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors (AGRs) are types of GCRs, allowing for higher operating temperatures and thermal efficiencies compared to water-cooled reactors.

In a BWR, the reactor core heats water, which boils into steam directly in the core. The steam flows to the turbines, spinning them to generate electricity, and then the steam is condensed back into water.

MSRs use a mixture of molten salts as both fuel and coolant. They operate at low pressure compared to PWRs and BWRs and can achieve high temperatures with high thermodynamic efficiency. MSRs can also be designed to use thorium as a fuel.

FBRs use fast neutrons to breed more fissile material than they consume, commonly generating plutonium-239 from non-fissile uranium-238. They typically use a liquid metal coolant like sodium to transfer heat from the reactor core to the power-producing system.

A PWR utilizes water as both a coolant and a moderator under high pressure to prevent boiling. The heat generated in the reactor core is transferred to a secondary loop via a heat exchanger, which then runs turbines for power generation.