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The Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) share price has had a disappointing end to the trading week so far this Friday.
At the time of writing, Paladin shares are down by 14.24% at 73.75 cents a share. However, that includes a strong intra-day recovery that we've seen this afternoon.
At one point during the trading day, Paladin shares fell as low as 64 cents each, which was a drop of more than 20%. In contrast, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is also down, but only by 0.86% at just under 7,100 points.
So what's going on with this ASX energy share today?
Image source: Getty Images
What's happening to the Paladin Energy share price?
Well, it appears likely this drop is partially a consequence of the disturbing reports coming out of Ukraine today.
As my Fool colleague Mitchell reported earlier today, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine has come under shelling from Russian forces. As a result, the plant reportedly caught fire, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to warn of a possible "catastrophe". Although, according to more recent reporting by the ABC, the US Energy Secretary, Jennifer Granholm, has advised that the plant is "protected by robust containment structures and reactors are being safely shut down".
Paladin is an ASX 200 uranium miner. As such, it's likely that such a serious incident at a nuclear plant has shaken confidence in the global nuclear power industry, of which Paladin is a part.
Paladin isn't the only ASX uranium share experiencing this kind of selling pressure today. We've also seen similar moves in the share prices of Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE), Deep Yellow Limited (ASX: DYL) and Peninsula Energy Ltd (ASX: PEN) over the course of the trading day.
