Every year, millions of girls are forced to make the awful choice between being a physicist or being a beauty queen. Thankfully, in Russia, where nuclear energy sector employees can compete in their own web-based beauty pageant, it’s possible to be both. Each year since 2004, industry women of the former Soviet Union ages 18 to 35 are urged to submit their photos and fill out a questionnaire describing their interests (i.e. “fitness, neutron monitors and teasing my bangs”) in hopes of becoming the next Miss Atom. An IQ test isn’t necessary to enter as, according to official contest guidelines, “It’s quite obvious what [kind of] IQ a nuclear-employed person must have.” Yes, but who are the brains behind this operation?

To take nuclear power, something that has negative connotations for Russia, and promote it using beautiful women, for whom Russia is renowned, takes a special kind of genius. We commend the propagandists for pulling it all off with a straight face and little public outcry. At least there's a democratic element: winners are determined not by a panel, but by how many online votes they receive. This year's winners and special prize recipients will be announced March 6. After that, it’s party time, with a celebration ceremony held at Rosatom, the country’s menacing nuclear-power headquarters in Moscow. And just take a wild guess as to what first prize entails? That’s right, a week-long Caribbean vacation! In Cuba.

Russia's Nuclear Bombshells [Spiegel Online]
Miss Atom Beauty Contest [Nuclear.ru]