Results obtained in studying the effect of ionizing radiation on epitaxial layers and devices based on silicon carbide (SiC) are considered. It is shown that, in investigations of wide-gap semiconductors (WGS), account should be taken of how the rate of removal of mobile charge carriers - the standard parameter in determining the radiation hardness of a material - depends on temperature. The use of data obtained only at room temperature may lead to an incorrect assessment of the radiation hardness of WGS. A conclusion is made that the WGS properties combine, on the one hand, high radiation hardness of high-temperature devices based on these semiconductors and, on the other, the possibility of effective radiation-induced doping (e.g., for obtaining semi-insulating local regions in a material at room temperature). © 2002 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".