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You need a neutron source--something that will generate a spurt of neutrons in the pit. Simply compressing the nuclear material and hoping there's a decay event won't cut it--the core is going to come back apart to a sub-critical configuration a very few microseconds, so you'd better have the chain reaction going by then. The first nukes used a polonium-beryllium sphere to generate the neutrons; these devices had a life span of less than two weeks. Modern weapons use a deuterium-tritium external neutron source (it's basically a small, unlicensed nuclear accelerator) to generate the neutrons. However, tritium has a half-life of 12.3 years, and the decay product has a voracious appetite for neutrons.

"The first nukes used a polonium-beryllium sphere to generate the neutrons; these devices had a life span of less than two weeks. "

really, I didn't know that, well that explains why we dropped the second bomb so quickly, I had wondered about that.

I did my research, and it seems the h3 is used to flood the reaction with neutrons and enhance it. I did not realize that enhancement was necessary, thought compression was enough, hmmmm, thanks for the lesson.

One of the major reasons the U.S. never signed the comprehensive test ban treaty was that the scientists weren't certain of the effects of aging on the weapons in the nuclear stockpile. The planners wanted certainty that they would get sufficient yield for the targeting accuracy of the delivery systems. And computer modeling was not accurate enough to replace underground testing. The effects of deterioration were known, but not quantified since they were design specific. Given this and the dates involved with the "sales" of the purported devices, it is not unreasonable to question the reliability of the devices.

There is no such thing as a tactical nuclear weapon. All nuclear weapons are strategic as any use results in escalation (the possible guilty parties are extremely few in number). Accordingly, there is no way for the former Soviet Union, the only plausible source, to have lost accountability for 20 to 40 nuclear devices without drastic measures taken to recover the devices and punish those responsible. The effort to do so would be impossible to hide from intelligence and law enforcement agencies. Where are all the books, even works of fiction, that trace such an effort?

Assume you are the former Soviet officer with control over the devices and a Muslim approaches you to purchase the devices. Would you think the first target(s) of the purchaser would be in the United States, Israel or one of the former Soviet Republics with active fighting between Muslims and government forces? Wouldn't you worry about your own backyard first, and wouldn't that give you some pause. Wouldn't you be more likely to look for a state purchaser which would be able to pay a higher price and shouldn't be too difficult to find?