Basement D20 Plantroom

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 14mm · f/6.3 · 1.3s · ISO 64
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

The Basement D20 Plantroom at ANSTO's HIFAR reactor lies dormant. Pipes and machinery fill the space, a relic from Australia's first nuclear reactor, decommissioned in 2007. Decades of operation left their mark.

Edition

Open edition

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

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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: Basement D20 Plantroom
Series: ANSTO HIFAR
Catalogue: AHF-009
Process: Giclée
Captured: 7 October 2022
Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/6.3
Shutter: 1.3s 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

The D20 plantroom sits in the basement of the HIFAR reactor building at Lucas Heights. The room is concrete-floored and concrete-walled, with the heavy water cooling plant filling most of its volume: vessels, pumps, pipework, and instrumentation arranged in a working layout. The pipework is colour-coded by service. Valves stand at the manual operating positions; many are still in their last commanded state.

HIFAR was a DIDO-class research reactor, moderated and cooled by 10 tonnes of heavy water in its primary circuit. The heavy water (D2O) was supplied from the United States Atomic Energy Commission under a contract separate from the main UK construction tender. The reactor ran at 10 MW thermal from 20 October 1960 until its permanent shutdown on 30 January 2007. The heavy water was drained and stored on site within 12 months of shutdown.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

Heavy water storage vessel 1V3 fills the right side of the frame, its curved steel wall marked with stencilled identification. A chain hoist hangs from a yellow gantry crane overhead. Stainless steel pipework and valve clusters pack the narrow space behind yellow safety railings. Green pipes run between the larger vessels. An orange electric motor sits bolted to a pump assembly at centre left. The concrete floor is bare, the air thick with the smell of metal and machine oil.

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.