The fires have spread to just one kilometre from the defunct plant and close to a disposal site for radioactive waste.
There are fears radiation in the ground released by the flames could reach surrounding populated areas.
Radiation levels near the blazes have spiked, with smoke from the fires being blown towards neighbouring regions.
The winds are blowing smoke towards the Ukrainian capital Kiev, but authorities say radiation levels in the city remain normal.
Wildfires that have been burning for days in northern Ukraine are moving closer to the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear plant, and radiation levels are reportedly spiking pic.twitter.com/8XN0mKTEAY
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) April 13, 2020
More than 300 firefighters are working to contain the fires, but strong gusts could spread them towards what is left of the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster.
Rashid Alimov, a member of Greenpeace’s Russia branch, told Reuters that “a fire approaching a nuclear or hazardous radiation facility is always a risk”.
Fires have been burning since 4 April in Chernobyl’s exclusion zone, a 30 kilometre area around the former power station where people are forbidden from living.
Police said the blazes were a result of arson, with locals setting fire to grass.
Wildfires have been raging near the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster for more than a week. Although higher levels of radiation have been recorded in the area since the fires began, Ukrainian officials say there is no elevated risk to citizens at this time. pic.twitter.com/WxQEezj1xM
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) April 13, 2020
The Chernobyl nuclear power station and the nearby town of Pripyat have been abandoned since the plant’s No. 4 reactor blew up in 1986.
It is considered the worst nuclear disaster in history.