Vehicle Airlock

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 14mm · f/6.3 · 0.4s · ISO 64
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

The vehicle airlock at the basement of HIFAR, Lucas Heights. The hydraulically operated door, counterbalanced by a 3-tonne weight, could accommodate a tabletop truck for transporting materials into the reactor building. The view above extends to the containment building ceiling.

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

3 remaining

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: Vehicle Airlock
Series: ANSTO HIFAR
Catalogue: AHF-039
Process: Giclée
Captured: 7 October 2022
Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/6.3
Shutter: 0.4s 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

The vehicle airlock at the basement of HIFAR, Lucas Heights. The hydraulically operated door, counterbalanced by a 3-tonne weight, opens to admit a tabletop truck for transporting materials into the reactor building. The door is heavy steel construction, sized to seal against the surrounding wall under the building's negative pressure. The view above the airlock extends to the containment building ceiling.

HIFAR's vehicle airlock was the working route for materials movement throughout the reactor's 49 years of operation. The containment building was maintained at negative pressure from criticality on 26 January 1958 to permanent shutdown on 30 January 2007, requiring all access routes to seal against the pressure differential. The vehicle airlock is part of the Phase A decommissioning scope, with Phase A Stage 1 having begun in early 2025.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

This vehicle airlock provided basement access for transporting goods and materials into and out of the reactor building. The hydraulically operated door is counterbalanced with a 3-tonne weight, allowing it to be efficiently opened and closed.

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.