A forest fire broke out Tuesday near the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine, site of the world`s worst civil nuclear disaster in 1986, but the blaze was not threatening the plant, officials said.

"The fire is at a distance of 15 to 20 kilometres (9 to 12 miles) from Chernobyl," said Maya Rudenko, a spokeswoman for the plant, adding that it was "operating normally" and the flames were not posing a danger.