AN OVERVIEW OF THE PRIMARY PARAMETERS AND METHODS FOR DETERMINING CONDENSATION HEAT-TRANSFER TO CONTAINMENT STRUCTURES

Containment atmospheres during accident events will inevitably include a significant fraction of noncondensable gases. This fact is used to provide guidelines for an overview of the relevant literature and to c lassify the independent variables required for an acceptable energy/ma ss transfer model into ''importance'' categories. It is argued that su ch a model must rake all the ''primary general'' variables into consid eration. Besides the widely used vapor concentration fraction, the bul k-to-wall temperature difference, and the pressure, this category also includes bulk atmospheric motion. The importance of this parameter is illustrated by using integral test data from the German Heissdampfrea ktor facility. The relative importance of the variables in the ''secon dary general'' and ''specific'' categories is assessed. The implementa tion of the bulk atmospheric motion parameter into containment analysi s system codes (such as the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's best- estimate CONTAIN code) is reviewed.