Radiation chemistry: Little known branch of science

Radiation chemistry is a branch of chemistry (some say physical chemistry) that studies chemical transformations in materials exposed to high-energy radiations. It uses radiation as the initiator of chemical reactions, as a source of energy that disrupts the sensitive energy balance in stable systems. In that way it is a younger sister of photochemistry, which does the same, but uses another type of electromagnetic energy - light - as the initiator. Radiation chemistry does not deal with radioactive elements (as radiochemistry does), except to use them as a source of radiation, always physically separated from the irradiated system. Practical applications of radiation chemistry today extend to many fields, including health care, food and agriculture, manufacturing, and telecommunications