Hazard Notice Board

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 14mm · f/7.1 · 0.6s · ISO 64
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

Faded warnings on a hazard notice board mark the abandoned ANSTO HIFAR facility. This decommissioned nuclear reactor served as Australia's primary research centre from 1958 to 2007.

Edition

Open edition

Open edition
Printed to order, no fixed quantity. Each print is hand-signed by the photographer.

Limited edition
A fixed number of prints exist. Once sold, the edition closes permanently. Each print is individually numbered and signed.

$100.00 AUD

Colour

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: Hazard Notice Board
Series: ANSTO HIFAR
Catalogue: AHF-008
Process: Giclée
Captured: 7 October 2022
Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/7.1
Shutter: 0.6s 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: Highly Commended in Multimedia at the 2016 National Trust of Australia (NSW) Heritage Awards

02 LOCATION

Lucas Heights, New South Wales, Australia

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

03 THE STORY

About this print

A hazard notice board hangs on the wall inside HIFAR at Lucas Heights. The board is steel-framed and glass-fronted, with notices fixed behind the glass on a backing card. The notices carry radiation, electrical, and chemical warnings from the reactor's working life. The print has faded across the years. The corners of the cards are curled at the edges; the glass is intact. The hazards the board warns about have not changed because the building is in decommissioning.

HIFAR ceased generating power at 10:25 am on 30 January 2007. The reactor's working hazards did not disappear at shutdown. Spent fuel was unloaded and reprocessed within 12 months; heavy water was drained and stored on site. ARPANSA issued the post-shutdown facility licence on 15 September 2008. Phase A decommissioning, including removal of neutron beam instruments and the control room, was licensed on 4 December 2024 and began in early 2025.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

A radiation monitor and tally board were essential tools for tracking the contents of the ANSTO HIFAR reactor’s core positions. These systems provided operators with real-time data on irradiation channels and fuel positions, ensuring precise oversight of fuel elements and experimental rigs.

Brett Patman

The series

ANSTO HIFAR

2022 · 49 photographs

At 11:15 pm on Sunday 26 January 1958, Australia Day, the High Flux Australian Reactor went critical for the first time with 11 of 25 fuel elements loaded. The men in the control room had come from Oak Ridge, Chalk River and Harwell. HIFAR was Australia's first nuclear reactor.

View all in this series →

05 SIZE GUIDE

Print sizes

The anatomy view shows what this finish is as a physical object: paper margin, mat band, frame depth, acrylic profile. The comparison strip shows how each size sits relative to the others at true scale. Click a size or a finish to update both.