Is the Camera Man Still Alive?

I've seen this film dozens of times, but for the first time this morning noticed something odd. In the beginning of the film, I found it startling that they took so much precaution to protect against inhaling radioactive particles but their camera man was walking (god only knows for how far) with his tripod over his head. I was planning a trip to the exclusion zone and had factored in that I'd need (aside from $thousands$ in payoffs) a tripod perhaps a camera too that wouldn't be coming home with me. Why? If anyone's ever used a tripod outside, they know they'll always get a little bit of dirt on the feet that stays there for days and days (the fine particles stay forever without proper cleaning). Well, when you're a kilometer away from the Chernobyl facility, everywhere you step there are radioactive particles in the soil, the grass, everything... its not a joke. So, to say that at least one particle wasn't picked up by putting the tripod in the ground is very optimistic; to say the camera man didn't sprinkle some onto himself or the people around him is also very optimistic. It's sad too, that entire trek resulted in two 5 second establishing shots of the facility and some footage of the crew standing around (hardly worth risking your life over).