Atomic vets are on the verge of losing federal benefits. Congress hasn't helped

So-called atomic veterans who worked on nuclear weapons tests, like this one from July 25, 1946 file photo above Bikini atoll in the Marshall Islands, are fighting to renew funds that compensate them for health effects from their work. (File/AP)

In the spring of 1947, Navy sailor Lincoln Grahlfs went to an Oakland, Calif., hospital suffering from a 103-degree fever, a strange facial abscess and an abnormal white blood cell count.

A doctor there responded with an unorthodox treatment: X-rays to the sailor's face with only a shield to cover his eyes.