reloading a module does not regenerate the module object

When a module is reloaded, the module object is not removed from memory.  Old data which is not overwritten will stick around.

>>> import json
>>> oldjson = json
>>> reload(json)
<module 'json' from 'C:\Python26\lib\json\__init__.pyc'>
>>> json is oldjson
True

To truly clean up modules in memory is a tricky process.