The Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) share price has been a very strong performer on Wednesday.
In morning trade, the uranium producer's shares are up 13% to 79.5 cents.
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Why is the Paladin Energy share price shooting higher?
Investors have been bidding the Paladin Energy share price higher today despite there being no news out of the company.
However, there has been some very positive industry news which is giving uranium shares a big lift.
For example, the Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) share price is currently up 11%, the Deep Yellow Limited (ASX: DYL) share price is currently up 8%, and the Peninsula Energy Ltd (ASX: PEN) share price is up 20%.
What's happening?
The catalyst for the rise in uranium shares on Wednesday appears to be news out of the United States.
According to Bloomberg, the Biden administration is pushing lawmakers to support a US$4.3 billion plan to wean the United States off Russian uranium imports for its nuclear reactors.
And while the Biden administration is seeking to buy enriched uranium directly from American producers as part of the plan, given Australia's close ties with the United States, investors appear optimistic that local producers could also become part of the deal.
Particularly given that the United States only has one remaining commercial enrichment facility. This is a New Mexico plant owned by British-German-Dutch consortium, Urenco.
Not that this would matter to Peninsula Energy, as it already has the Lance Project in Wyoming, USA. It is also worth noting that Paladin Energy has the Michelin project over the border in Canada.
Overnight, the Global X Uranium ETF jumped as much as 7.4% to its highest intraday price in a month on the news.
