westfw:
In my experience, 10y old nicd batteries are likely to be deader than doornails...
I'm still running some AR500s I bought in 1997. They are a little bit down on capacity. I also have plenty of sub-C NiCds from around that era that still work fairly well.
I've seen plenty of dead ones over the years too. You can't tell until you test them. Some NiCds were as tough as old boots.
Steve