There is no significant risk from using depleted uranium. So a political decision to succumb to media demands is the only rational explanation. This depleted uranium is much less radioactive than natural uranium normally present in the soil and rock. Natural uranium is in equilibrium with radioactive isotopes of radium, radon, thorium, protoactine, polonium, lead and bismuth. During its decay it emits energetic alpha particles and very weak beta and gamma radiation.
Alpha particles have little penetrative power in the air and in human tissues.
The total mass of depleted uranium dispersed over Kosovo was at most 25 tons. Thus, the surface layer of soil in Kosovo contains about 300 times more natural uranium than was dispersed there by NATO weaponry. Local concentrations of depleted uranium may be higher than the average concentration of natural uranium in the soil at the target sites. From these patches of activity depleted uranium may be re-suspended into the air, and may also enter the food chain. This, however, should not lead to any observable medical consequences.