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nuclear power produces long-lived radioactive waste, which needs to be stored securely. Nuclear fuels, such as the element uranium (which needs to be mined), are finite, so the technology is not considered renewable. Renewable sources of energy, such as solar and wind power suffer from “intermittency”, meaning they do not consistently produce energy at all hours of the day.

fusion technologies have yet to produce sustained net energy output (more energy than is put in to run the reactor), let alone produce energy at the scale required to meet the growing demands of AI. Fusion will require many more technological developments before it can fulfil its promise of delivering power to the grid.

Summary

House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington asked CBO to indicate whether the 2021 increase in the value of the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP), which increased Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, had a positive or negative impact on labor force participation. In CBO’s assessment, the TFP increase likely reduced the fraction of people participating in the labor force as a response to the higher transfer income that people received when not working. The reduction in labor supply is likely concentrated among the minority of SNAP recipients who are of working age. The agency has not quantified the size of that effect.