Radiation exposure remains an important workplace challenge at the construction site for the New Safe Confinement arch at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.  In this clip from September 2015, we explore the effectiveness of a simple, portable shielding wall made out of lead sheet.  The wall attenuates gamma radiation being emitted from widespread, distributed nuclear fuel in and around the Unit 4 reactor building to the right of where we are.  Gamma exposure rates are measured at about 5 mR/h on the east side of the lead, whereas behind the wall, they are down to about 1.6 mR/h--roughly a factor of three.  The portable lead shields are not the only engineered shielding at the New Safe Confinement site; a much larger concrete wall has been completed further to the northeast to block radiation coming from the "cascade wall" of the old Sarcophagus, where some of the most significant nuclear fuel residues are trapped.
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.youtube.com/user/Thallium208">Carl Willis</a>
CC BY 3.0
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