This program is available at the following location:

• Corvallis

The Radiation Health Physics program is designed to prepare students for careers involved with the many beneficial applications of nuclear energy, radiation, and radioactive materials. The Radiation Health Physics profession is essential to society’s well-being since they enable significant public benefits through energy security, national defense, medical health, and industrial competitiveness.

This undergraduate curricula is designed for students with professional interests in the field of radiation protection. This specialized field involves an integrated study of the physical aspects of ionizing and nonionizing radiation, their biological effects, and the methods used to protect people and their environment from radiation hazards while still enabling the beneficial uses of radiation and radioactive materials.

Competitive scholarships are available to incoming undergraduate students. The U.S. Department of Energy and National Academy for Nuclear Training support a number of scholarship programs each year.

World-class facilities are available for the instructional and research programs of the school. These are housed in the OSU Radiation Center and include a TRIGA Mark II nuclear reactor, the Advanced Thermal Hydraulic Research Laboratory, the Advanced Nuclear Systems Engineering Laboratory, and laboratories specially designed to accommodate radiation and the use of radioactive materials.

Minor Code: 326

Upon successful completion of the program, students will meet the following learning outcomes:

• Identify, formulate, and solve broadly defined technical or scientific problems by applying knowledge of mathematics and science and/or technical topics to areas relevant to the discipline.
• Formulate or design a system, process, procedure or program to meet desired needs.
• Develop and conduct experiments or test hypotheses, analyze and interpret data and use scientific judgment to draw conclusions.
• Communicate effectively with a range of audiences.
• Understand ethical and professional responsibilities and the impact of technical and/or scientific solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.
• Function effectively on teams that establish goals, plan tasks, meet deadlines, and analyze risk and uncertainty.
• Apply knowledge of atomic and nuclear physics to nuclear and radiological systems and processes.
• Apply knowledge of transport and interaction of radiation with matter to nuclear and radiation processes.
• Measure nuclear and radiation processes.
• Apply knowledge of ionizing radiation risk in terms of decision-making and policy.

 Students not majoring in radiation health physics or nuclear engineering may earn the Radiation Health Physics minor, which consists of the following courses:

Minor Code: 326