FTP server safety and NAT

I’m looking to create an FTP server. I’ve already been told that an FTP server without NAT is unsafe and vulnerable.

Now, I’ve identified that my router is probably not using NAT. I did an ipconfig and found that my IP started with 10.* which I was told meant that I probably do not have NAT.

My question is, how secure is my home network if I were to use NAT while opening a port? And is there a possibility that my wnr3500v2 can enable NAT?

Additional info: I would be using the filezilla FTP client and a domain name that I would not disclose to anyone/only disclose to trusted people. As of now I believe that NAT would make my network safe from port scans.

Thank you