Polar Crane

Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 14mm · f/7.1 · 1s · ISO 64
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

The polar crane dominates the interior of the ANSTO HIFAR reactor hall. This heavy machinery once serviced Australia's first nuclear reactor, a key part of the nation's scientific history.

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

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In situ

Print datasheet

Title: Polar Crane
Series: ANSTO HIFAR
Catalogue: AHF-022
Process: Giclée
Captured: 7 October 2022
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
Paper size: 290 × 200 mm
Location: Lucas Heights, New South Wales, Australia

Where this was photographed

Lucas Heights, New South Wales, Australia

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

About this print

The polar crane at ANSTO HIFAR is a curved-track overhead crane that ran around the inside of the reactor containment building, allowing heavy components to be lifted to and from the reactor top. The crane track follows the curve of the cylindrical containment wall; the trolley moves along the track, and the hoist lowers from the trolley to whatever needs to be moved. The crane is painted yellow, the standard colour for industrial overhead cranes. Its hook hangs centre-frame in this photograph, in its rest position above the reactor floor. The lighting in the hall throws long shadows of the crane structure onto the surrounding walls.

Polar cranes are standard equipment in nuclear reactor halls. The curved track lets the crane reach any point above the reactor, which is essential for fuelling, defuelling, and component changeouts. At HIFAR the polar crane handled fuel transfer flasks, irradiation rigs, and major maintenance items throughout the reactor's working life. After the reactor was shut down in 2007, the crane was used for the decommissioning work, then left in place. It is still operational. Cranes like this are too useful and too expensive to remove until the building they serve is itself coming down.

From the field notes

The polar crane, suspended from the domed ceiling of the containment building, was an essential tool for handling reactor components. Seen here from the control room level, the crane’s 25-tonne working load was intentionally deregulated by 20% to account for the nature of handling radioactive materials.

— Brett Patman

The series

ANSTO HIFAR

2022 · 49 photographs

HIFAR was Australia's first nuclear research reactor. Contract awarded to Head Wrightson Processes Ltd of Stockton-on-Tees in July 1955 for £A937,500. Architects: Stephenson and Turner of Sydney. The reactor went critical at 11:15 pm on Sunday 26 January 1958 with 11 of 25 fuel elements loaded; Prime Minister Robert Menzies formally opened the Research Establishment on 18 April 1958. Routine 10 MW operations ran from 1960 to 2007. Across 49 years it produced technetium-99m for nuclear medicine, irradiated silicon for the global semiconductor industry, and trained generations of nuclear scientists across the Asia-Pacific. Replaced by OPAL in 2007. Awarded a National Engineering Landmark by Engineering Heritage Australia in 2001. Brett photographed the decommissioned reactor in 2022.

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