I don't think so. This guy Taleyharkin has been experimenting with this for years so the funds are already there. He's staked his reputation on these experiments but so far his critics have poked huge holes in his methods. This latest experiment is trying to eliminate some of the variables.
I hope it works. Nuke is our big hope to save us from oil woes.
I suspect that he's not going to convince some people unless and until he can do something practical with it, namely produce usuable energy. If he could produce usable energy, on a net energy basis, it would be kind of hard to say that it was an illusion. Energy doesn't just appear out of nowhere.