The main mission of the Institute for Nuclear Research (RATEN ICN) is to maintain and develop the scientific and technological support for the Romanian nuclear power program, a vital component in ensuring clean and safe energy for the Romanian citizens.

The Institute ensures the development, operation and use of the necessary research infrastructure - supporting R&D programs, education and training of specialists, and promotes an active international cooperation, as essential elements  of a sustainable nuclear energy sector. 

The Institute owns, operates, develop and uses the necessary infrastructure for the development of R&D programs, education and training of specialists, and promotes a sustained international cooperation, essential elements of a sustainable nuclear energy sector. 

The IAEA designated International Centre based on Research Reactors (ICERRs) scheme is intended to help IAEA Member States gain timely access to relevant nuclear infrastructure based on research reactors to achieve their capacity building and R&D objectives. ICERRs are organizations which make their research reactors, auxiliary facilities, and resources available to organizations and institutions of IAEA Member States through bilateral arrangements, facilitated by the IAEA.

Following the signing in 2015 and 2019 of two “Practical Arrangements on Cooperation in the Area of Scientific and Technical Support to Member States in Nuclear Safety” between RATEN ICN and International Atomic Energy Agency, cooperation between the two institutions has developed, so that on January 2020, after the IAEA evaluation, the Nuclear Research Institute has been designated as “International Center based on Research Reactor (ICERR)”. RATEN ICN will act as ICERR for the “Education and Training” and for “Joint Research and Development (R&D) Projects” fields, joining the Network of other 6 well-known institutes from the USA, France, Belgium, Korea and Russia.

In "Education and Training", within the TRIGA Reactor department, , training is provided in the following areas:

• Nuclear safety;
• Reactor physics;
• Radiation protection;
• Irradiation techniques;
• Use of neutron beams.

The "Joint Research and Development Projects" activities are targeting the fields of:

• Testing of fuels for Generation IV reactors;
• Irradiation of materials of nuclear interest;
• Structural analysis using nuclear techniques;
• Production of radioisotopes with applications in medicine and industry.

In September 2021, at the 65th IAEA General Conference at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the IAEA, handed over to the representatives of the Nuclear Research Institute the plaque designating the organization as ICERR in the field of "Education and Training" and "Joint Research and Development (R&D) Projects". 
The designation of the Institute as ICERR represents an international recognition of the RATEN ICN research capacity in the Romanian nuclear energy field, and opens new opportunities for young and senior scientists to be trained or to perform research in a unique double core research reactor.