The NY Times has an article today announcing the successful and highly efficient production of hydrogen using a new method relying on nuclear power
http://nytimes.com/2004/11/28/politics/28hydrogen.html
Excerpt
"The new method involves running electricity through water that has a very high temperature. As the water molecule breaks up, a ceramic sieve separates the oxygen from the hydrogen. The resulting hydrogen has about half the energy value of the energy put into the process, the developers say. Such losses may be acceptable, or even desirable, because hydrogen for a nuclear reactor can be substituted for oil, which is imported and expensive, and because the basic fuel, uranium, is plentiful.
Read More