That's just confusion by the writer of the story. This reactor is a scientific experiment, intended only to be the first to demonstrate getting more energy out of a fusion reactor than you have to put into it, not to be a commercially viable power plant. So it's just one step towards the long hoped-for goal of commercially viable fusion.

OK, I feel stupid for asking this, but are you serious about those being intentional alterations? They sound more like screwups of some kind.