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.