Helium Purification Unit

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 14mm · f/6.3 · 0.3s · ISO 64
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

Inside the ANSTO HIFAR reactor, a helium purification unit features a dense arrangement of pipes, valves, and control panels. This industrial apparatus once supported Australia's nuclear research efforts.

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: Helium Purification Unit
Series: ANSTO HIFAR
Catalogue: AHF-011
Process: Giclée
Captured: 7 October 2022
Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/6.3
Shutter: 0.3s 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: National Trust of Australia (NSW), 2016 Heritage Award, Multimedia

02 LOCATION

Lucas Heights, New South Wales, Australia

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

03 THE STORY

About this print

The helium purification unit at HIFAR fills a chamber with a dense arrangement of vessels, pipework, and valving. Control panels are mounted along one wall, the gauges and indicator lights still set in their last operational positions. The pipework is steel, painted in the service colour code, fitted with isolation valves at regular intervals. The unit drew helium from the blanket above the heavy water and stripped it of the deuterium and oxygen that built up through neutron irradiation.

HIFAR's helium purification kept the heavy water blanket clean across the reactor's operational decades. The reactor ran on 10 tonnes of heavy water (D2O) in the primary cooling circuit, moderated and cooled by the same fluid. The full-power operating period began on 20 October 1960 after a two-year reactor physics measurement program. HIFAR ran continuously at 10 MW thermal until permanent shutdown on 30 January 2007. Heavy water was drained and stored on site within 12 months of closure.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

The helium purification unit at ANSTO HIFAR played a crucial role in maintaining the integrity of the reactor system. Designed to remove impurities from the circulating helium gas, this system ensured that only high-purity helium was used within the reactor environment.

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

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.