It's funded for a phase one NIAC grant.
Which means squat except that it's a far out idea and the P.I. has a history of successful research in the field. Some plasma physicists I spoke with about consider it a joke. They have fairly solid technical critiques of the idea. If you wan't a space plasma project to be excited about, think VASIMR.
Previous post here:
http://www.habitablezone.com/nexus/index.asp?SvcPt=space&TOCpage=0#Thread353432