HIFAR Control Room Desk Controller

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 14mm · f/7.1 · 1/4 · ISO 64
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

The data acquisition system controller from HIFAR's 1980s upgrade, its cathode ray monitor bearing screen burn from years of continuous operation. The electrical power supply at the far end was updated in the early 1990s. HIFAR operated as Australia's first nuclear reactor from 1958 to 2007.

Edition

Open edition

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Signed, numbered, with COA. Made to order in 10 to 20 business days (framed). Shipped in protective packaging with edition certificate, paper-stock reference and a printed care guide.

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In situ

01 PROVENANCE

Print datasheet

Title: HIFAR Control Room Desk Controller
Series: ANSTO HIFAR
Catalogue: AHF-015
Process: Giclée
Captured: 7 October 2022
Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/7.1
Shutter: 1/4 s
ISO: 64
Focal length: 14 mm
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
Paper size: 290 × 200 mm
Location: Lucas Heights, New South Wales, Australia
Authenticity: C2PA verified provenance →
Recognised by: National Trust of Australia (NSW), 2016 Heritage Award, Multimedia

02 LOCATION

Lucas Heights, New South Wales, Australia

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03 THE STORY

About this print

A data acquisition system controller from HIFAR's 1980s upgrade sits among the control panels in the reactor control room. The cathode-ray monitor on the controller bears screen burn from years of continuous operation, the reactor parameters etched into the phosphor of the display. The electrical power supply at the far end of the desk was updated in the early 1990s. The control desk around the controller is the original 1958 fit-out, modified across the reactor's operational decades.

HIFAR ran a major upgrading program between 1982 and 1988, which included the data acquisition system in this photograph. The reactor was first criticality 26 January 1958 and permanent shutdown 30 January 2007, with the 1980s upgrades extending its working life through neutron-beam research, silicon irradiation, and medical isotope production. The Tc-99m generator product line ran from the reactor for about 25 years up to 2007. The control room was scheduled for Phase A removal.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

The early 1980s computer system controller, part of the data acquisition system (DAS), sits among the control panels of ANSTO HIFAR’s control room. Its cathode ray monitor still bears the imprint of years of readings burned into the screen, a lasting mark of the reactor’s operational history.

Brett Patman

The series

ANSTO HIFAR

2022 · 49 photographs

HIFAR, the High Flux Australian Reactor, was Australia's first nuclear reactor. It went critical at 11:15 pm on Sunday 26 January 1958 and ran for forty-nine years and four days before being permanently shut down on 30 January 2007. The reactor was the last of six DIDO-class research reactors built worldwide to cease operation.

View all in this series →

05 SIZE GUIDE

Print sizes

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