1. An artificial intelligence software shell for plant operation simulation comprising: a blackboard module including a database having objects representing plant elements and concepts; at least one knowledge source module including an artificial intelligence operation scheme, in communication with the blackboard module, operating on specific predefined blackboard objects; an input data module, in communication with the blackboard module and the at least one knowledge source module, enabling data to be inputted to the shell; and a control module, in communication with the input data module and the at least one knowledge source module, receiving all input data and controlling operation of the at least one knowledge source in accordance with a predetermined knowledge source interruptibility/priority scheme; wherein the control module includes an event detector module, in communication with the input data module, receiving all input data and determining when the at least one knowledge source module should execute, the event detector module having a hash table defined by a chaining algorithm.