Growing concern about the use of depleted uranium yesterday prompted the Defence Department to report its supplies of the ammunition had been shot into the sea more than a decade ago.

Defence has announced it will identify troops who served in the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, joining several other nations worried after the reported deaths from cancer of Italian and Belgian veterans of Kosovo and Bosnia.

Aid workers could also be affected.

CARE Australia has identified about 30 workers who worked in Kosovo and the Yugoslavian capital, Belgrade, who may have been exposed to the possibly radioactive dust loosened on impact by the armour-piercing weapons.

Debate over the safety of the ammunition has split the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

Britain and the United States argue there is no health risk from depleted uranium, while Germany, Italy, Portugal and Belgium are demanding a full NATO inquiry.

Australia's acting Defence Force chief Lieutenant-General Des Mueller said the ADF still believed the risk for Australian soldiers was minimal.

"Whilst it is unlikely that ADF personnel in the Balkans have been exposed to depleted uranium, I have directed that those individuals who have served in the Balkans be identified and their degree of exposure assessed," General Mueller said. "However, on the information available, any risk to ADF personnel would be minimal."

Depleted uranium was used by the United States in armour-piercing weapons during its bombing raids on the Balkans in 1999 and in the Gulf War in 1991. It is feared that radioactive dust spreads in a potentially poisonous cloud when the weapons impact on their targets.

Australia had up to 200 personnel serving in the Balkans over the period of the conflict. Many of them were on secondment to overseas military forces in Britain or the US and it is believed most would have been well away from combat.

But CARE Australia's workers may not have been so distant. Although not in the heat of battle, they would go in soon after the shooting stopped to help refugees, CARE Australia chief executive Paul Mitchell said.

About 30 CARE workers were in the Balkans during the conflict, Mr Mitchell said. CARE was examining whether any of its people would have to be screened for radiation exposure.

"The advice we have at the moment is that the level of risk is very low, but it depends where you are," he said. "We've got to piece together where everyone was."

CARE has sought expert advice on the level of harm from the dust released by the depleted uranium which is expected to be different to other forms of radiation exposure.

Meanwhile, the ADF confirmed it no longer used depleted uranium ammunition but had used it for a short time after first installing the Phalanx anti-missile systems on navy ships. The depleted uranium ammunition - 20mm rounds all used up by 1986 - had been shot over the sea and did not raise the dust problem, Defence Department spokesman Tim Bloomfield said. AAP