Helium Storage Vessel

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

A massive helium storage vessel stands within the decommissioned ANSTO HIFAR nuclear reactor facility. This cylindrical structure once held the inert gas essential for its operations.

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: Helium Storage Vessel
Series: ANSTO HIFAR
Catalogue: AHF-012
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: 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 helium storage vessel stands inside the HIFAR reactor building at Lucas Heights. The vessel is cylindrical, mounted vertically on a structural base, the welded steel shell painted in the pale industrial palette of the surrounding plant. Inlet and outlet manifolds feed at the upper and lower ends. The pressure-relief and isolation valving sits on a service walkway at the side. The vessel held the helium inventory for the reactor's blanket gas system.

Helium was used as a blanket gas over the heavy water in HIFAR's primary cooling circuit. The vessel in this photograph held the inventory drawn on through the reactor's operational life. HIFAR was the High Flux Australian Reactor, a DIDO-class research reactor built by Head Wrightson Processes Ltd of Stockton-on-Tees, UK, under a contract awarded on 7 July 1955. The reactor went critical at 11:15 pm on 26 January 1958 and ran for 49 years and 4 days.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

This 500-cubic-foot helium tank at ANSTO HIFAR played a vital role in maintaining reactor integrity by serving as a sweep gas to displace air from the D₂O (heavy water) circuit. By eliminating oxygen exposure, the helium prevented corrosion within the reactor system.

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.