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The nuclear weapons include suitcase bombs acquired through Chechniyan rebels and received technical help from Iraq. ‘The Russians believe that he has a handful [of nuclear weapons], the Saudi intelligence services are very conservative, perhaps they are friendly to the United States, believe that he has in the neighborhood of 20,’

I fail to understand, then, why these rebels did not use them against the FSU. It would have been easy.

Also, what is the shelf-life of low-shielded compact devices?

Thermal degradation of the implosion charge (These things are *warm* to handle), as well as y and N degradation imposes a "Best if used before...." date on them.

Yes, but even a "best if used before..." date could work when you realize that such a date also means ... "Might be Ok if used after ...."

Reliability isn't a big concern with these guys. Just HAVING the weapon is a big enough factor.

Then again ... I think, if anybody actually HAD such a weapon, they'd boast about ... or would have used it already.

A nuke is ONLY effective (unless exploded) when your opponent knows you have it. Here, a hidden threat is no threat at all.