Future trends in computerized operation

The notion of a functional approach is a very general concept, which is today followed by numerous organizations. However, the way to deeply use from the basic design phase to the design of the operating means could widely differ. This paper presents how to control the complexity of the plants and their operation by introducing structuring elements making it possible to better understand their operation, better ascertain the propagation of the events and facilitate the transition from general to detail, through a hierarchized representation of the plant and its operation by a generalization of the functional representation of the plant. A such approach enables to control the complexity of the process in various areas: the propagation of function failures from low levels to high functional levels becomes clearer, which allows to generate reliable and information of the functions; and the scheme of the operations for commissioning (decommissioning) the main functions during plant unit startups (shutdowns) becomes explicit.