Abstract. Current standard models have improved interoperability in Product Lifecycle Management. But the increase of constrains surrounding information management in an industrial context, and notably for power plant design, like the increase of data, actors, systems and the need of automation and collaboration leads to an increasing use of ontologybased models. However, the design of power plants presents a specific issue, which is rules expression and validation. This need of rules is generated by safety, interoperability or collaboration constrains. The Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL) is an ontological language based on OWL-DL that allows in addition rules expression. This paper presents SWRL rules and their industrial applications but also limits of this language in PLM applications. It proposes in consequence other rules languages. -long term information storage (from design to maintenance and disassembly); -a large number of data produced; -lots of actors and application systems involved; -control policies and safety and checking constraints. Like in many industrial fields, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is a global methodology that could provide efficient solutions to these issues [2] . Performing interoperability between information systems is a crucial step of this methodology [3] , that must be achieved in terms of organization, technic and models semantic. Moreover, on a semantic viewpoint, expressing and validating rules is a determining issue in today's modeling. A rule is in this context a specification of a requirement or a constraint about the product or its management [4] . These rules are the focus of this study.
Furthermore, the design of nuclear power plants is governed by rules that may be expressed in ontological models, using for instance the Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL) as a standard language REF .
SWRL as a rule language for ontology-based models in power plant design
PLM
Computer Science