Top Plate to Basement
Lucas Heights, New South Wales, Australia
- Camera
- NIKON D850
- Lens
- 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
- Settings
- 14mm · f/7.1 · 0.4s · ISO 64
- Paper
- Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
Provenance
A view of the full vertical scale of HIFAR at Lucas Heights, from the polar crane at the ceiling to the basement. The reactor vessel measured 2 metres in height and diameter, with a maximum of 25 fuel elements. Neutron scattering instruments are visible at the five-metre level.
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.
Ships within 10 business days · signed & numbered
In situ
Print datasheet · certificate of authenticity
The data is the authenticity.
- Catalogue
- AHF-033
- Paper
- Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
- Process
- Giclée
- Paper size
- 290 × 200 mm
- Captured
- 7 October 2022
- Location
- Lucas Heights, New South Wales, Australia
- Printed
- Sydney, 2026
COA · Every print ships with a signed certificate, edition number and paper stock reference.
Where this was photographed
Lucas Heights, New South Wales, Australia
From the field notes
The reactor hall at HIFAR drops away from the overhead crane gantry down through multiple levels. Yellow handling cranes arc over the circular top plate at centre. Steel railings, catwalks, and access platforms ring the reactor vessel. Below, the grey concrete floor is crowded with auxiliary equipment, fuel element storage ports, and heavy shielding components. The light is flat, industrial, fluorescent. Everything is metal, concrete, cold.
— Brett Patman
The series
ANSTO HIFAR
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.
How big is each print
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.
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