iMAGINE. A disruptive change to nuclear or how can we make more out of the existing spent nuclear fuel and what has to be done to make it possible in the UK?

The energy trilemma (e.g. by the world energy council, an UN-accredited global energy body or the scientific community and the United Nations sustainable development goals (UN Sustainable Development Goal 7: "Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all as one piece of sustainable development of the future world") form the key drivers for the future of all kinds of energy research. These goals lead to a strong, urgent demand for reliable as well as controllable low carbon electricity production technologies to address the low carbon strategies following the commitments of the COP 21 agreement in Paris. For the United Kingdom, Nuclear technologies are recognized to have the potential to become the key technology to meet the CO${}_2$ reduction targets, but only if the development targets for nuclear will be met. However, the Emissions Gap Report 2017 of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) identified that the Contributions set in Paris 2015 will even not be sufficient to hold global warming to well below 2 °C. In 2007, the UK formally re-introduced nuclear power into its overall energy policy followed by a long-term Nuclear Energy Strategy in 2013, leading to subsequent plans to build new reactors. These plans are now starting to materialize at the Hinckley Point C site with the construction of two pressurized water reactors and the Wylfa project, which is foreseen to lead to two advanced boiling water reactors, even if currently on indefinite hold. However, these projects rely on commercially existing technologies, delivered by worldwide acting companies, and are essentially based on technology developments of the 50ies and 60ies. In addition, the decision for the new build programme, along with the closing down of reprocessing in 2018, creates a demand for developing novel, innovative technologies to deal with spent nuclear fuel (SNF) of existing and upcoming reactors. The case for recycling (reprocessing) is driven by factors such as closing the fuel cycle and the costs of disposal/burning of transuranic, with various scenarios proposed.