[en] The protection of nuclear power plants against external explosions of heavy gas clouds is a relevant topic of nuclear safety studies. The ultimate goal of such studies is to provide realistic inputs for the prediction of structure loadings and transient response. To obtain those inputs, relatively complex computer codes have been constructed to describe the propagation in air of strong perturbations due to unconfined gas cloud explosions. A detailed critical analysis of those codes is presented. In particular, the relative errors on wave speed, induced flow velocity, as well as on reflected wave speed and overpressure, respectively due to the use of a simplified non-linear isentropic approximation and of linear acoustic models, are estimated as functions of the overpressure of the incident pulse. The ability of the various models to accurately predict the time and distance required for sharp pressure front formation is discussed. Simple computer codes using implicit finite-difference discretizations are proposed to compare the results obtained with the various models for spherical wave propagation. Those codes are also useful to study the reflection of the waves on an outer spherical flexible wall and to investigate the effect of the elasticity and damping coefficients of the wall on the characteristics of the reflected pressure pulse