A 500-J nuclear-pumped gas laser

A 500-J pulsed gas laser (laser module) pumped by uranium nuclear fission products has been created, which operates on xenon $5d[3/2]_1\to 6p[3/2]_1$ transition with a wavelength of 2.03 $\mu$m. Experiments have been performed on a BARS-5 + RUN-2 complex comprising a fast aperiodic self-quenching reactor and a neutron multiplier reactor. A specific laser radiation energy in experiments achieved $\sim$32 J/dm$^3$ at an efficiency of 3% (ratio of the laser output pulse energy and the energy transferred from fission fragments to gas medium).