Thermal Throttling? macOS 15.2

Hey all. I have a MBP M3 (36GB RAM). I use Python via terminal for work...I am a competent programmer, but have very little sys admin skills. There was a task that I use often from code I wrote, and it has recently become MUCH slower, despite no change to code or data utilised. I see that 'kernel\_task' is using > 100% CPU during this process...which I believe indicates thermal throttling. However, the fans don't run at all and the temps are around 60˚C (according to Macs Fan Control...not using this app except to check fan speeds and temps). This \*seems\* to correspond to my upgrade to Sequoia...but I'm not certain. Does anyone have any idea how to bring the kernel\_task usage down (and therefore restrict throttling)? Or any other solutions or insights. Thanks in advance! Sincerely, Clueless