Hmmm, “The scintillation could be attributed to the energetic charged particles produced by the possible low energy nuclear reaction in the Ni film cathode during the light water electrolysis.”
The gist is that adding electricity to metal may make some light. What’ll they think of next?!
Except that the emission isn't being triggered by the electricity, but rather by the impact of a high-energy charged particle.
From the abstract: "~3 MeV is the lowest energy of the alpha particle to penetrate through the Ni film and to reach the scintillator."
You don't get 3MEV particles from electrolysis-level voltages.
The gist is that this is alpha particles. That means it’s a nuclear process.