Depleted uranium debris in the news again

[Gilded]

This is one of those rather "pop-scientific" articles of New Scientist but I thought I'd make a thread about it anyway (even though it's also a "controversial claim").

 

How war debris could cause cancer

 

But isn't this really old news though, or is the controversial part mentioned later in the article (assuming someone here has subscribed)? It has been known for ages that a single alpha particle can ionize many molecules, knocking off lots of electrons before it has slowed down enough to capture two for itself, so what's new? Or does that "mimicing beta radiation" part imply that the electrons are more energetic than previously thought?