Re: Which is more deadly, a depeted uranium bullet or the radiation it emits?

Given the broad scope of the question, I will make a few assumptions to 
help make sense of what I think the intent of the question was.  

If we are assuming that you or the vehicle you are in is the target of the 
bullet, the risk of death from the radiation is not even a consideration, I 
assure you.  The near total destruction of the vehicle will ensure that.  
Because of that, some background on DU Penetrator rounds is in 
order.  

The purpose of the DU round is to go through a lot of armor with as little 
difficulty as possible.  The great density of Uranium metal is the key.  At 
an astonishing 18.9 grams per cubic centimeter, it rates as one of the 
densest elements on the Periodic Chart.  Rest assured that other metals 
have been tried by the military and none work as well as Uranium.  The 
secondary effect of Uranium is an added "boost" in terms of military 
advantage: it's pyrophoric.  What this means is, as the round finished 
going through the armor it has heated up tremendously and as it penetrates 
the inside of the armor, it breaks into fragments and ignites itself and 
anything else flammable in the near vicinity.  If that happens to be the 
ammo magazine in your tank, the results should be fairly obvious.  So 
enough on the how, now to the health issues that arise assuming that you 
aren't a target.  

In terms of radioactive elements, Uranium is very stable by comparison.  
Since this is depleted Uranium, it is primarily U-238 which has a half life 
of 4.47 BILLION years.  (It's primarily U-238 since U-235 is the "good 
stuff" for putting in nuclear reactors and gets taken out, so we say that 
depleted Uranium is Uranium that has had most of the U-235 pulled out of 
it.)  The longer the half life is, the lower the radioactive activity for a 
given quantity.  Also, Uranium is an alpha emitter.  Basicly, this means 
that the nucleus of the Uranium atom spits out the equivalent of a Helium 
nucleus when it decays.  Alpha particles are the weakest form of radiation 
OUTSIDE your body (more on this later).  Alphas are so weak, they won't 
penetrate a sheet of paper or even the layer of dead skin on your body.  So 
the end result is that if you pick up a DU bullet and walk around with it 
in your pocket, aside from it being very heavy, nothing bad will happen to 
you.  

The next issue has to do with the possibility of getting some Uranium 
inside you with out getting shot in the process.  This can happen in two 
ways.  If you eat something that has Uranium in it, the end result is that 
the vast majority is removed when you go to the bathroom.  Your body 
doesn't much like it.  What is absorbed tends to concentrate around bones 
like a lot of heavy metals do.  Also, seeking medical treatment to basicly 
flush you out will also help.  It's not good for you by any means, but it's 
certainly less awful than a great number of things I can think of.  

The other way is to inhale particles.  If the bullet is intact then there 
is nothing to worry about here.  The problem comes in cleaning up a tank or 
other vehicle shot up with DU rounds.  Remember, the round breaks up and 
catches fire, this tends to make particles of a size that can be inhaled.  
Wearing a proper face mask or respirator will effectively remove the risk 
of inhaling any particles.  Uranium in the lungs is particularly bad since 
the body can't get rid of it very easily.  The problem here is that now the 
Uranium is giving off those alpha particles INSIDE your body where there is 
no layer of dead skin to protect you.  If you inhale a lot of Uranium dust, 
after many years (usually 10-30) it is possible to get cancer or some 
respiratory disease from the Uranium decaying in your lungs.  Usually, it 
takes a lot of dust over a long period of time to do this.  Again, I want 
to stress that the simplest and most basic safety measures will protect you 
against serious problems.  Many, many people in the US have worked with 
Uranium for a very long time with no serious effects (barring the very rare 
accident).  

I hope this fully answers the question!