Single crystal of the Pr3+ doped Lu2Si2O7 was grown to test its luminescence and scintillation characteristics. Absorption, excitation and photoluminescence (PL) spectra manifest the 4f <-> 5d transitions in the UV spectral region. Evaluation of temperature dependences of both the Pr3+ PL decay times and intensities of the delayed radiative recombination enable to determine the ionization barrier of the 5d(1) relaxed excited state of Pr3+, being about 0.7-0.75 eV. Fast scintillation decay and efficient radioluminescence at room temperature indicate a good potential of this material system to become fast, high density scintillator though the mechanism of the host-Pr3+ energy transfer are yet to be understood. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.