Abstract: In order to explore the important driving forces for the development of radiation protection, the development history of representative international organizations, advanced countries and regions of nuclear energy and China was briefly reviewed in terms of radiation protection. Therefore, five important driving forces for the development of radiation protection were summarized, namely, the deep understanding of radiation effects, the expansion of nuclear facilities and activities, the development of related technologies, the progress of social factors, globalization and autonomization. On this basis, the changes and stage characteristics of the above driving forces were preliminarily analyzed; strategic research agendas (SRAs) of international organizations and several countries and regions in the field of radiation protection were briefly reviewed. Based on the above mentioned driving forces, the opportunities and challenges for domestic radiation protection discipline were preliminarily analyzed and discussed, which is for academic reference and comments.

Key words: radiation protection, opportunities and challenges, driving forces