Laser study of the time dependence of induced absorption in a liquid excited by uranium fission fragments

The results of 1.05-μm laser measurements of optical properties of the POCl₃ – SnCl₄ – UO₂²⁺ liquid containing vapour bubbles generated by the fission fragments of ²³⁵U nuclei formed upon irradiation of this liquid by neutrons in a BARS-6 pulsed reactor are presented. The average size of a bubble and its mean lifetime are obtained from experiments. The effect of pressure on the bubble size is studied. It is found that the lifetime of a bubble increases with increasing the concentration of molecular chlorine in the liquid due to its radiolysis induced by fission fragments.