NEREC的任务是开展教育和研究，以促进有利于和平利用核技术的全球核不扩散为目标。主要目标是培养核不扩散人力资源，结合技术专长和政策见解进行核不扩散政策研究，参与关于和平利用核技术和核不扩散各个方面的讨论。研究中心成立的宗旨是基于培养面向未来的精英科学家，具备基础理论和实际应用能力，开展长期和短期的基础和应用研究，使国家的战略技术进步成为可能，与不同的研究机构和行业合作进行研究。
作为韩国唯一一个致力于核不扩散教育和研究的大学中心，NEREC旨在发展成为核不扩散领域的全球智囊团。虽然世界上许多著名的核不扩散智囊团主要从核武器国家的角度关注国际关系和安全问题，但NEREC从技术使用者的角度强调与民用核电相关的核不扩散问题以及相关的核燃料循环发展。
关于防止核扩散的技术和政策问题，审查今后的核扩散危险和制定威慑措施，考虑到核扩散情景的不确定性，需要加强国家一级的核透明度。在全球核治理方面，加强防止和应对潜在核扩散危险的国际制度，韩中日核合作加强东北亚核不扩散。还需要负责任和可持续地利用和平核能，基于核燃料循环技术防扩散性和在韩国的使用情况的核燃料循环技术开发研究，审查新加入核国家的多国核燃料循环合作。
The mission of NEREC is to conduct education and research aimed at promoting global nuclear non-proliferation conducive to the peaceful uses of nuclear technology. The main objectives are to develop human resources for nuclear non-proliferation, to conduct research on nuclear non-proliferation policies combining technical expertise and policy insights, and to participate in discussions on the peaceful uses of nuclear technology and nuclear non-proliferation in all its aspects. The purpose of the establishment of the research center is based on the training of future-oriented elite scientists, with basic theoretical and practical application capabilities, to carry out long-term and short-term basic and applied research, to make the country's strategic technological progress possible, to cooperate with different research institutions and industries to conduct research.
As the only university center in Korea dedicated to nuclear non-proliferation education and research, NEREC aims to develop into a global think tank in the field of nuclear non-proliferation. While many of the world's leading nuclear nonproliferation think tanks focus primarily on international relations and security issues from the perspective of nuclear-weapon states, NEREC emphasizes nuclear non-proliferation issues related to civil nuclear power and related nuclear fuel cycle developments from the perspective of technology users.
With regard to the technical and policy aspects of non-proliferation, the review of future proliferation risks and the development of deterrent measures, taking into account the uncertainty of the nuclear proliferation scenario, require greater nuclear transparency at the national level. In terms of global nuclear governance, the international regime for preventing and responding to potential nuclear proliferation risks has been strengthened, and nuclear cooperation between South Korea, China and Japan has strengthened nuclear non-proliferation in Northeast Asia. There is also a need for responsible and sustainable use of peaceful nuclear energy, research on the development of nuclear fuel cycle technology based on the non-proliferation and use of nuclear fuel cycle technology in Korea, and review of multinational nuclear fuel cycle cooperation among newly acceded nuclear countries.