A method of determining the bremsstrahlung flux-weighted average photonuclear cross section.

Based on a developed analytical model, a method is proposed for measuring the photonuclear cross section averaged over bremsstrahlung flux without application of additional target-monitor of photon flux. The method involves the use of a thin isotopic target, that completely overlaps the photon beam (a photonuclear converter), as well as an algorithm for processing the data on the yield of a reaction under study in such a target. The novel technique was validated on the reactions Mo(γ,n)Mo and Ni(γ,n)Ni in the range of photon end-point energy of 40.7-93.9 MeV. The photon flux-weighted average cross sections of the reactions measured experimentally are in good agreement with Monte Carlo simulations and TALYS predictions on their excitation functions.