Review on condensation on the containment structures

In the last two decades condensation on the containment structures in presence of noncondensables has received substantial attention by nuclear scientists and engineers. The reason is that many Generation III and III+ reactors rely on passive systems operating under natural circulation. As a consequence, a vast number of publications have been made in the open literature. This paper reviews the specific physical phenomena that are involved in condensation and discusses how they have been considered in the different available models. In addition, it explores the data that have been used for validation and provides some insights on the effective suitability for this purpose. Finally, the paper summarizes the current codes' capabilities to deal with wall condensation in the presence of noncondensables according to the most recent available validation exercises.