No evidence of volcano off Puducherry coast: study

National Geophysical Research Institute looked at 5 locations

The talk of a submarine volcano started with the report of two anti-nuclear activists, who contended that it might pose a danger to nuclear establishments at Kalpakkam. File photo.

In a huge relief to the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), a recent study by the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) has concluded that there was no evidence to prove the existence of a submerged volcano off the Puducherry coast, which could have posed a danger to nuclear establishments at Kalpakkam, some 80 km from here.

“The literature review, existing satellite and ship-borne bathymetric and geophysical data do not lend any credible evidence for the presence of submarine volcano,” the 110-page ‘Status report on an unconfirmed submarine volcano off Pondicherry coast’ by Hyderabad-based NGRI stated.

The report, accessed by

The Hindu, indicates that the nuclear establishments at Kalpakkam did not face any threat from a submarine volcano, which was cited as a danger by anti-nuclear activists.

The study looked at five conflicting locations for the volcano, which was known as ‘1757 Puducherry submarine’ event. It stated that “no direct scientific evidence such as occurrence of young volcanic materials and volcanic features in all five sites have been reported in the literature.”

The Global Volcanism Program (GVP) of Smithsonian Institution (SI), which officially catalogues the active and Holocene volcanoes, has also deleted the location of the 1757 Puducherry volcano of uncertain eruption since July 3 last year, the report cited. An official communication from SI on July 21 last year to the DAE too stated that entry was removed from its database of volcanoes active during the Holocene as of its latest update.

But even before the NGRI report, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in its communication to BHAVINI (PSU constructing Fast Breeder Reactors), stated the figure on the volcano in its Specific Safety Guide (SSG-21) was based on the GVP and further informed that its updated figure would reflect the latest GVP database and would show no submarine volcanoes near the Indian coast. Reports from the Geographical Survey of India and the National Hydrographic Office under the Indian Navy also had not detected any sea mount that would indicate volcanic activity in the area, BHAVINI had referred.

The talk of a submarine volcano off Puducherry coast started with the report of two anti-nuclear activists, who, citing literature, had contended that it might pose a danger to nuclear establishments at Kalpakkam.

The nuclear complex at Kalpakkam houses two units of the Madras Atomic Power Station, the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, the prototype of Fast Breeder Reactor and two other sites identified for two Fast Breeder Reactors, besides Waste Immobilisation Plant.