The first cycle of experiments on generation of high-power VUV radiation has been performed on a GOL–3 device. A preliminary theoretical analysis has shown that the energy of a relativistic e-beam (100 kJ, 5 ms, 1 MeV) can be effectively converted into the VUV radiation with the use of two-stage heating of a dense (n ~ 1016–1017 cm-3) plasma mixture. Such a plasma can be a working body for an ultraviolet laser. In experiments we have studied the parameters of dense plasma clouds with different mass balance of nitrogen, krypton, and hydrogen. It was shown possible to obtain a VUV radiation flash of 5–50 MW power and 5 ms duration in the scheme of two-stage heating of an active medium. The prospects for creation of a high-power ultraviolet laser based on the GOL–3 device are discussed in the paper.