Nuclear Fusion - Good Idea? Or Gooder Idea?

This plan for a nuclear-based energy the size and scope of a "mini-star" right here on Earth (!) sounds exactly like the plot of Spider Man 2 (not Austin Powers, like the CNN article suggests. Get with the times, CNN! Austin Powers is so 1997). Except this time Spider Man won't be here to save us when the "Sun on Earth" turns the lead scientist into a crazy octo-psychopath.