This article gives a broad overview about the status and progress of the sulfate radical-based decontamination technologies. Peroxymonosulfate or persulfate can be activated by energy or a catalyzer to form sulfate radical for rapid and effective degradation of contaminants in homogenous systems. Sulfate radical-based heterogeneous catalysis oxidation has been a major research focus since 2005 because solid catalysts are stable, cost-effective, and easy to recover. The application of sulfate radical in other decontamination technologies and the mechanisms involved are also described and discussed. The main points are summarized and the directions of future researches are suggested in the last section.