Ok, let me put on my Trek-nobabble hat here.
IIRC the Genesis device was
designed to reform a barren world into one with life on it. However at the end of ST:WOK, the genesis device was activated inside the Mutara nebula, which caused a star to form. Kahn was not following the manufacturer's recomended procedures at the time.
Geoschmo
[This message has been edited by geoschmo (edited 26 October 2001).]