Its mission is to be an information and networking center for citizens and organizations concerned about nuclear power, radioactive waste, radiation and sustainable energy issues.

[citation needed] In 2000, NIRS' affiliation with World Information Service on Energy (WISE) turned it into an international organization (NIRS/WISE).

[4] On 15 May 2007, NIRS issued a report claiming that radioactive scrap, concrete, equipment, asphalt, plastic, wood, chemicals, and soil from U.S. nuclear weapons facilities are being released to regular landfills and could get into commercial recycling streams.

"[5] On 17 July 2007, regarding the leakage of water from the spent fuel pool of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant after the 2007 Niigata earthquake, Michael Mariotte, spoke on behalf of the NIRS and commented "The leak itself doesn't sound significant as of yet, but the fact that it went unreported is a concern, when a company begins by denying a problem, it makes you wonder if there's another shoe to drop.

[9] In a 2008 response to NIRS claims appearing on the website palmbeachpost.com,[10] David Bradish of the Nuclear Energy Institute challenged a contention of NIRS Southeast Office Director Mary Olson that "A nuclear power plant takes so much water and energy to build, it has to run for 15 years to offset its carbon footprint."