“Imagine, if you will, a bikini clad beauty queen strutting near a lake, with giant cooling towers from a nuclear power facility dominating the background,” wrote Der Spiegel, the German weekly. “Odd perhaps? Apparently not in Russia.”

“It seems that this bold strategy of fusing atomic energy and Russian bombshells is just another part of life – or at least a marvelous ploy,” the magazine said.

The event, sponsored by Russia’s nuclear enterprises, has been held annually for the last 6 years.

Сreator of the web project, Ivan Zasursky, explains why such events are so popular.

“It is an online competition, there’s no jury. People decide who the best lady is. Then, tastes differ – some people like curvy ladies and others like thin ones. And some people just want to make a mess out of the whole competition – and when all these people collide, it becomes really interesting and exciting,” Ivan says.

Last year, the winner of the pageant was awarded a trip to Italy for two, while the runner-up received a fur coat.