Nuclear Chemistry is aimed at answering the following questions.

• Why are some nuclei stable and others not?
• What are the limits of nuclear stability in terms of mass, charge to mass, angular momentum and excitation energy?
• Why are some nuclei deformed and other not?
• How are nuclei synthesized in the early universe and in stellar environments?
• How does the density of states of the nuclear system evolve with excitation energy and angular momentum? Or in general, how can, or should, one describe the thermodynamics of small quantum systems?
• What is the Equation of State (EoS) of nuclear matter (the material that comprises greater than 99% of the (non-dark) matter of the universe?

On the applications side nuclear or radiochemistry is concerned with how to use radioisotopes for chemical, physical or medical studies. Examples in these three areas are studies of chemical kinetics, solar energy production and medical imaging, respectively.