The recently reported detection of helium (albeit minuscule) with equivalent heat production using an electrochemical process at the University of Texas and at the Naval Weapons Center at China Lake were both attributed to intracrystalline nuclear fusion, which again brings to the fore this most controversial of subjects. However unlikely this fusion process, it is contended that an electrochemical process is particularly unsuited to the task of substantiating intracrystalline nuclear fusion because simultaneous thermochemical processes are occurring that can overshadow possible modest nuclear processes. Moreover, the presence in the electrolyte of extraneous reagents such as dissolved oxygen and salts further complicates interpretation of results. In light of these observations, an investigative method utilizing deuteron implantation with concurrent spectrometric analysis of reaction products is proposed.