We introduce a new non-classical Riemann solver for scalar conservation laws with concave–convex flux-function. This solver is based on both a kinetic relation, which determines the propagation speed of (under-compressive) non-classical shock waves, and a nucleation criterion, which makes a choice between a classical Riemann solution and a non-classical one. We establish the existence of (non-classical entropy) solutions of the Cauchy problem and discuss several examples of wave interactions. We also show the existence of a class of solutions, called splitting–merging solutions, which are made of two large shocks and small bounded-variation perturbations. The nucleation solvers, as we call them, are applied to (and actually motivated by) the theory of thin-film flows; they help explain numerical results observed for such flows.