Mezzanine to Vehicle Airlock

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 14mm · f/7.1 · 0.8s · ISO 64
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

A mezzanine platform overlooks the massive vehicle airlock inside the ANSTO HIFAR reactor building. Grey concrete and aged industrial structures mark this significant former nuclear research facility, now silent.

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: Mezzanine to Vehicle Airlock
Series: ANSTO HIFAR
Catalogue: AHF-034
Process: Giclée
Captured: 7 October 2022
Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/7.1
Shutter: 0.8s 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 mezzanine platform overlooks the vehicle airlock at the base of the HIFAR reactor building. The mezzanine is grated steel, supported on bolted columns, with handrails along both sides. Below the mezzanine, the vehicle airlock door fills the wall, a heavy hydraulically operated unit counterbalanced by a 3-tonne weight. The space is concrete-floored, lit by overhead fluorescents.

The vehicle airlock at HIFAR allowed materials to be transported into and out of the reactor building while preserving containment integrity. The airlock was sized to accommodate a tabletop truck driven into the basement. The reactor's containment building was maintained at negative pressure throughout operation, from criticality on 26 January 1958 to shutdown on 30 January 2007. The vehicle airlock is part of the Phase A removal scope for the decommissioning program.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

Green coolant pipes run beneath a corrugated steel ceiling. Below, a mezzanine walkway with mesh flooring and white steel railings wraps around the upper level. The view drops two storeys to the reactor hall floor. A heavy control console sits at ground level, its gauges and switches still intact. To the left, the circular top of the reactor vessel is visible, instruments mounted on its olive-coloured lid. A toppled yellow sign rests on the concrete nearby.

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.