Lets look at the data and model the data to explain catalyzed nuclear fusion aka LENR, cold fusion.
What highly reproducible means of LENR became a multimillion-dollar business? Answer: Santilli's claim of magnecules.
What then went wrong? Answer: The theory of magnecules was an incorrect explanation of the fuel gas produced by nuclear reaction. Those who bought the business tried to improve it with their common knowledge of scientific engineering. But since nobody really understood the origin of the fuel, they spend their investment in vain and the business when bankrupt. Update: see the thread thunderstorm generator. There is a water-based reaction which will generate excess energy when that water-based fuel is mixed with hydrocarbon fuel to a combustion engine. This is exactly what Santilli found in his investigation of AquaFuel. AquaFuel was the basis which led to his business. A failure to understand it led to the business failure.
What is the science? Mass balance and stoichiometry based on accepting a phenomenon of magnecules can be applied to data in Santilli's intermediate fusion patent application. The result is a 99.9% accountability in this equation: 7D + O = 2N + 2H. Mass balance and stoichiometry on the reaction which produces AquaFuel indicates that hydrogen will substitute for deuterium in the above equation. This overall reaction is explained by a series of reaction steps which look very much like the alpha cycle used in stars. Like a Tokamak, some containment of very high energies allows this reaction series to occur. Obviously, fusion as per the above equation is only known to occur in very massive stars. To accept the obvious would mean a second type of gravity which couples to mass through a constant several orders of magnitude stronger than universal gravity.
If one accepts there is only one type of gravity, then one must accept dark matter to balance the observed movement of stars near the edges of the galaxies. The alternative is modified gravity which means something causing a change in the couple constant for gravity. Hence, a second form of gravity is a solution at astronomical scales as it would be for LENR.
Santilli's intermediate fusion and AquaFuel use an arc of electricity. Arc's create clusters of electrons. Since electrons repel each other then there must be an opposing, force which causes attraction in such objects as ball lightening. However, if an electron became part of a composite particle which composite particle is a boson, then bosons create a condensate which resembles gravity.
The model works as follows. The boson composite is a string of an electron and some unknown nearly massless particle. The difference in mass and charge of the boson composite and the electron from which it is made is insignificant. Hence, observers like Ken Shoulder see a cluster of electrons but it is boson condensate not a plasma. The boson condensate is built up according to a Phat equation. The equation has the form E= n2(photon energy). This equation was discovered by Pharis Williams. The size of the condensates increases with the quantum number n. The energy in this equation is the maximum energy of a boson composite in the cluster. The energy is preserved in each string in the cluster as relative mass: that is the kinetic velocity of the nearly mass-less particle relative to the electron. The swinging of the nearly-massless particle about the electron causes effects on time, on length between the nearly massless particle and the electron and on the mass of the nearly massless particle. The change in these metrics is the Lorentz factor as predicted by special relativity. Hence, the electro-gravity results from special relativity and buildup of a quantum object. In effect a warp field is build up around each composite particle and by their exchange of photons the warp field extends around the whole cluster.
The photon exchanged is that which corresponds to the ionization of hydrogen, (about 13.6 eV). Hence, Brillant Light Power observes these radiations as a function of the phat equation but interprets them as resulting from production of hydrinos. Further, Ed Storms amazing spectra of energies of deuterons emitted for glow discharge experiments correlate to Phat equations and to build-up as described in the prior paragraph. This data has been described in detail in this forum.
So, imagine Ken Shoulder's EVO, a cluster of pseudo-electrons. Pseudo-electrons because real electrons repel each other and these electrons under the influence of a boson condensate attract each other. One can derive an equation for electro gravity by a force balance. This was done several times in this forum. There is an escape horizon above the cluster of pseudo-electrons at which a pseudo-electron is equally attracted to the cluster and repelled by the coulomb force between the negative charge of the electron at the escape horizon and the negative charge of the cluster. One chooses the attractive force as electro-gravity. By using the same mass and charge for pseudo-electrons as for electrons, one can solve for the coupling constant for electro gravity. One finds it to be orders of magnitude stronger than universal gravity. In fact, electro gravity is so strong that it can create blackholes with a mass equal to a few neutrons. The data to support this claim is found by analysis of the images of Matsumoto blackholes and related images by Matsumoto. The particles emitted by Matsumoto's blackholes follow the path of escape from orbit which indicates the particles are massive and under the influence of an attraction like gravity. The sizes of the images are quantized as expected from a countable number of pseudo-neutrons within a neutron star which goes supernova releasing an itonic net and then radiating out of existence as expected for a blackhole. Further, massive radiations fit the description of radiations from cold fusion experiments as per Rout et al.
If massive radiations come from cold fusion, then in the transmutation equation derived by stoichiometry all the mass loss is not converted to energy per E=mc2. This is true. The yield of energy from Santilli's intermediate fusion is only about 4/10000 of that predicted assuming 100% of mass loss by transmutation is converted to energy.
So, what the summary? A cold fusion occurs and can be proven with a high degree of certainty based on mass balance and stoichiometry. The explanation of cold fusion as resulting from electro gravity is mathematically reasonable and supported by data analysis but extremely outside of the mind set of most scientists. Cold fusion produces massive radiations and therefore not a high energy output as expected for hot fusion.
There is still hope for cold fusion. Analysis show that the massive radiations of cold fusion are a fuel. The simplest and oldest way to use cold fusion is produce a fuel gas like Aquafuel or improve on a design such as the thunderstorm generator. Further, experiments such as LEC, G. Edgeley's device and speculation on results of Brillant Light Power suggest that the massive radiation from cold fusion can be converted to electrical power.