Well, would be ready to use them is more accurate. No definites about nuking someone else just yet! The article comes from a speech French President Jacques Chirac made in response to how France would react to a terrorist attack against it which was sponsored/oragnised by another nation.
What's more is that France would be one of the few countries, in my mind, that would carry out this threat. All you have to do is look at how their secret service has operated over the last few decades - carrying out some very tough jobs with ruthless efficency - and that's the only ones that have come to light. France's secret service is one that I'd put up there with the Israeli's for 'getting the job done no matter what' and not screwing things up in the same way that the Americans have (for example) over the last few years.
I believe France wouldn't hesitate to use nuclear weapons against a foreign state if they were attacked through terrorist means. They wouldn't do it lightly but I can certainly imagine them doing it.
