Hydrogen has recently attracted attention as a possible solution to environmental and energy problems. If hydrogen should be considered an energy storage medium rather than a natural resource. However, free hydrogen does not exist on earth. Many techniques for obtaining hydrogen have been proposed. It can be reformulated from conventional hydrocarbon fuels, or obtained directly from water by electrolysis or high-temperature pyrolysis with a heat source such as a nuclear reactor. However, the efficiencies of these methods are low. The direct heating of water to sufficiently high temperatures for sustaining pyrolysis is very difficult. Pyrolysis occurs when the temperature exceeds 4000 C. Thus plasma electrolysis may be a better alternative, it is not only easier to achieve than direct heating, but also appears to produce more hydrogen than ordinary electrolysis, as predicted by Faraday's laws, which is indirect evidence that it produces very high temperatures. We also observed large amounts of free oxygen generated at the cathode, which is further evidence of direct decomposition, rather than electrolytic decomposition. To achieve the continuous generation of hydrogen with efficiencies exceeding Faraday efficiency, it is necessary to control the surface conditions of the electrode, plasma electrolysis temperature, current density and input voltage. The minimum input voltage required induce the plasma state depends on the density and temperature of the solution, it was estimated as 120 V in this study. The lowest electrolyte temperature at which plasma forms is $75 C. We have observed as much as 80 times more hydrogen generated by plasma electrolysis than by conventional electrolysis at 300 V.

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Until now, it has not been clarified why the fission product of 235U induced by thermal neutrons shows two peaks. It is possible to explain this problem by the present idea of channel-dependent fission barrier introduced by the selective channel scission (SCS) model. Fission of 235U induced by thermal neutrons was analyzed theoretically by the SCS model. Using the SCS model the fission barrier of each scission channel is calculated. If the excited energy of the nucleus is more than some of the channel-dependent fission barriers, those channels can be opened to achieve fission. It is understood that the distribution of fission barriers results in two peaks for 236U. Hence, the distribution of fission products from thermal neutron fission of 235U also gives two peaks. It is known that fission products are almost stable isotopes at the peaks. If the nucleus can be excited at a lower energy level than that by thermal neutrons, cleaner fission of 235U is possible.

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A conservative modeling and analysis were attempted to explain the presence of nonradioactive fission-like products with nonnatural isotopic ratios observed in some D2O/Pd electrolysis experiments. The collective deformation of a Pd nucleus by multiphoton E1 resonance absorption in a dynamic PdD x lattice was assumed to induce low-energy photofissions via the selective scission channels within the lowest band (11–20 MeV) of channel-dependent fission barriers. Values of channel dependent fission barriers were calculated by using liquid drop model potentials for Pd isotopes. Fission products were analyzed in detail. Major fission products (FPs) are stable isotopes and the isotopic ratios of FP elements are very different from those of natural abundances. The present theoretical results have shown good agreement with the experimental data of Mizuno et al.. [Denki Kagaku 64 (1996) 1660] and others in terms of Z-distribution, mass distribution and isotopic ratios. Selective channel photofissions with positive Q-values are possible for A>90 nuclei, which may provide us with a clean method for the incineration for the radio isotope (RI) waste of nuclear plants.