Radiation Oncology/Physics

Physical Review

Review of Modern Physics:

The study of Radiation Physics can be divided into three parts:

Radiation Oncology/Radiation Physics, which is a pure science dealing with the nature of radiation and its interactions with matter.
Radiation Oncology/Radiotherapeutic (Medical) Physics, which is an applied science dealing with the use of radiation within the Radiation Oncology department where humans (and sometimes animals) are treated
Radiation Oncology/Health Physics, which is also an applied science dealing with radiation safety, both in Radiation Oncology departments, but also in research labs, at nuclear power plants, etc.

Nuclear engineering, the field of engineering that deals with the science and application of nuclear and radiation processes
- These processes include the release, control, and utilization of nuclear energy and the production and use of radiation and radioactive materials for applications in research, industry, medicine, and national security
Nuclear engineering is based on fundamental principles of physics and mathematics that describe nuclear interactions and the transport of neutrons and gamma rays
- These phenomena in turn are dependent on heat transfer, fluid flow, chemical reactions, and behaviour of materials when subjected to radiation
Nuclear engineering is therefore inherently a multifaceted discipline, relying on several branches of physics, and, like the aerospace industry, it relies to a large extent on modeling and simulation for the design and analysis of complex systems that are too large and expensive to be tested

Branches of nuclear engineering