AREVA, the world's largest builder of nuclear reactors, banned pens, recorders and cameras during a field trip to the company's Lynchburg facilities organized by SEJ during its 2008 annual meeting held in Roanoke, VA.

In the waning months of the Bush administration, the push for nuclear energy continues.

One of those problem areas is the thousands of old mines that were dug to extract uranium ore. During the era from the 1940s to the 1980s when most were excavated, many were simply abandoned when they played out or the economic incentives changed. Radioactivity now contaminates many sources of human and environmental exposure.