Given a semigroup S, we prove that if the upper nilradical Nil∗(R) is homogeneous whenever R is an S-graded ring, then the semigroup S must be cancelative and torsion-free. In case S is commutative the converse is true. Analogs of these results are established for other radicals and ideals. We also describe a large class of semigroups S with the property that whenever R is a Jacobson radical ri...