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 early 1980s computer system controller in the HIFAR control room at Lucas Heights, part of the data acquisition system, its cathode ray monitor marked with burn-in patterns from years of repeated readings. Two large original dials remain among the control panels, unchanged by the electrical power supply update carried out in the early 1990s.

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 5 to 10 business days (unframed). Shipped in protective packaging with edition certificate, paper-stock reference and a printed care guide.

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In situ

HIFAR Control Room Desk Controller at ANSTO HIFAR, black-framed print displayed in situ on a wall.

HIFAR Control Room Desk Controller at ANSTO HIFAR, raw timber-framed print displayed in situ on a wall.

HIFAR Control Room Desk Controller at ANSTO HIFAR, glass print displayed in situ on a wall.

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: 297 × 210 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 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

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.