The idea was to give off a radioactive pulse that would shut down abnormal cell function. If he used a low of enough level, it would keep the change constant and slow, but not permanant, so that Rogue could work on other means of controlling her powers rather than erasing them.
So Reed had a device. He had given it quite a bit of juice, but with the software he'd written to run it, the generator should deliver a small amount of consistent energy with a little fuel. It was perfect. Rogue would be so pleased. He put a container with some of his own blood within the constraints of the suit, stepped back, and pressed the trigger.
Reed had been in such a frenzy to type the program that he'd missed a decimal point. .125 had become 125, a big difference. There was a large bang. Reed was thrown into the lab table, and when he came to he realized he was bleeding.